The Burning Train

The Burning Train is a 1980 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film produced by B.R Chopra and directed by Ravi Chopra, who was inspired by the 1974 Hollywood disaster movie The Towering Inferno. The film features an ensemble cast of Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Vinod Khanna, Vinod Mehra, Hema Malini, Parveen Babi, Neetu Singh, Danny Denzongpa.

The plot revolves around a train named the Super Express, that catches fire on its inaugural run from New Delhi to Mumbai.

The film was released worldwide on 28 March 1980 and received mainly positive reviews from critics for the performances of the cast, the action sequences and the music. Negative criticism was mainly directed towards its length. At the box office, the film earned ₹65 million worldwide and was declared Average despite being the 7th highest grossing film of 1980 due to its expensive budget. The film is widely regarded as a cult classic today.

Plot
The film begins with three besties, Ashok, Vinod, & Randhir. Ashok is passionate about the fastest cars, whereas Vinod & Randhir are railway engineers with Rakesh, and their dream is to build the fastest-moving train in the country. Randhir is tetchy & wild and envies Vinod. Ongoing, Ashok & Vinod fall for Seema & Sheetal. Randhir also woos Sheetal, but she knits Vinod and is blessed with a boy, Raju. Suddenly, destiny plays with Ashok; his father, Seth Dharmdas, is bankrupt following his death. Seema deceives him, and forlorn Ashok turns wanderer.

After a while, the Indian Railway Board approved the fastest moving train, the Super Express, in which Vinod prevailed, whereby the malice of Randhir summited. After six years, Vinod triumphs in building it, which ruins his marital life. So, Sheetal shoves Raju to her mother on the train and banishes Vinod. The parade begins from Delhi to Bombay in 14 hours, signing on many passengers: Raja Ram Mohan and his wife, Padmini. Chander, a smuggler, with his fiancée Razia, absconds. Inspector Ranveer chases them in disguise. Major P.K. Bhandari, a Pandit Shambhunath, a Muslim Abdul Rahim, ticketless passengers, a schoolteacher with students, and Rakesh's pregnant wife. Besides Seema with her Doctor Cousin, Ashok joins in his friend's success and is confounded to see Seema. Above all, Ravi, a prowler tailing a girl, Madhu, is running from a forcible splice with the jewelry, and they crush.

Randhir escorts the train on, meaning no harm, so he removes the vacuum brakes, plants a bomb in the engine, and quits the train. Ashok also departs in the presence of Seema and accompanies Randhir when he divulges his gruesome. Forthwith, Ashok rushes and catches the train, but it is too late. Halfway through, the bomb explodes, killing the drivers, and the caravan moves on without breaks. Panic-stricken Vinod & the railway board are desperately trying to save the passengers. Vinod successfully conversed with the passengers via All India Radio and outlined how to apply emergency brakes. Hence, Ashok, Ravi, & the guard Usman Ali moved to the engine with the plucky endeavor.

Meanwhile, Rakesh's wife is in labor, so the doctor calls for hot water. Tragically, the petrified cook failed to switch off the gas, which exploded. Whereat, Usman Ali & and several passengers die. However, Ashok & Ravi barely make it back by erecting gaps between the compartments. Consequently, Ashok identifies Seema's betrayal as her disability led to amputation in a mishap, and they reconcile. Vinod makes plan B by sending a helicopter to land one on the engine, which Randhir voluntarily leads to sabotage. Anyway, he succeeds but forges his death as the helicopter blasts.

Parallelly, Ravi divulges his actuality to Madhu, but she still accepts him. Sheetal also returns to Vinod and boasts of his courage. At Bombay, Rakesh plans to build a steep incline to reduce the speed. Beyond, as an end-run, dauntless Vinod jeopardizes by arriving at the Super Express from one car to another with fireproof suits and dynamite. Soon, Vinod, Ashok, & Ravi cross the fire where Randhir awaits, whom they cease. Here, Vinod detects that all systems fail when Ashok thinks to blast the couplings from the engine, which poses a threat of derailing, and then he picks up the incline. Currently, Ravi backs and instructs passengers to tie themselves to their seats. Vinod & Ashok blast while climbing the slope and jump off. Nevertheless, the engine blasts at Bombay Railway Station, but the compartments slow down and halt. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note, with the passengers conjoining with their relatives and giving tribute to the soul of India.

Soundtrack
Music was composed by R. D. Burman and film song lyrics were by Sahir Ludhianvi.