Trishul (film)

Trishul is a 1978 Indian Hindi-language action drama film, directed by Yash Chopra, written by Salim–Javed and produced by Gulshan Rai. It features music by Mohammed Zahur Khayyam, with lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi. The film features an ensemble cast of Shashi Kapoor, Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Raakhee Gulzar, Poonam Dhillon, and Sachin, with Waheeda Rehman in a special appearance.

Kapoor, Bachchan, Raakhee and Rehman had earlier starred together in Chopra's previous release, Kabhi Kabhie, two years prior.

Trishul was the second-highest grossing Indian film of 1978, after Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, which also starred Amitabh Bachchan and Raakhee. The movie has been remade in Tamil as Mr. Bharath and in Telugu as Mr. Bharath.

Rishi Kapoor was offered the role of Ravi, which was eventually played by Sachin. Kapoor declined the offer, triggering animosity between him and Salim-Javed.

Plot
In 1953 Raj Kumar "R.K." Gupta (Sanjeev Kumar) leaves his first love Shanti (Waheeda Rehman) to marry a wealthy heiress, Kamini (Gita Siddharth). Kamini's father, Seth Dindayal, makes him an equal partner in his business. Shanti comes by to wish him success in his marriage, with the news that she is pregnant with his child. She refuses R.K.'s offer of support, telling him that he is only doing so to assuage his guilty conscience, and leaves the city. She gives birth to a boy and names him Vijay Kumar (Amitabh Bachchan).

25 years later in 1978 Shanti dies. The adult Vijay comes to Delhi to take revenge by ruining his father's business and family connections. At the same time, R. K. Gupta's second son, Shekhar (Shashi Kapoor) returns from abroad to take his place in his father's company. Shekhar and his sister Kusum (Poonam Dhillon), who are Vijay's half-siblings, are caught in the crossfire of Vijay's revenge. Vijay crosses paths with Geeta (Raakhee), the devoted secretary to R.K. Gupta. He tries to bribe Geeta to get details of Gupta's tender bids but she refuses. Nevertheless, the two start to get closer to each other. Vijay bribes another R.K. employee, Bhandari, and gets the information he could not from Geeta. Bhandari’s betrayal nets Vijay’s company, Shanti Constructions, a lot of profits and results in losses for R. K. Gupta and Sons. Upon seeing Vijay and Geeta together one day, R.K. assumes that Geeta has sold him out and fires her. When Vijay learns about this, he exposes Bhandari as the real culprit to R.K. and Shekhar only to clear Geeta’s name and hires her to work at his own company.

Vijay becomes successful quickly and is soon celebrating the second anniversary of Shanti Constructions with a huge party. He tells Geeta to invite the crème de la crème of the city, especially R. K. Gupta. At the party, Vijay meets Sheetal Verma (Hema Malini), P. L. Verma's daughter and general manager, who is also Shekhar Gupta's girlfriend. He tries to create differences between Shekhar and Sheetal. A fierce rivalry begins between Vijay and R.K., in which both are willing to sacrifice their wealth and integrity. Vijay even encourages Kusum to marry her lover Ravi (Sachin) against her father's wishes. This angers Shekhar and he ends up fighting with Vijay. Geeta intervenes and reveals to Shekhar that he and Vijay are brothers. Shekhar and Kusum both leave their father's house in shame. Shekhar asks Vijay to give Kusum away at her wedding as her oldest brother. Enraged, R.K. hires Balwant Rai (Prem Chopra) to kill Vijay.

Vijay visits R.K. to claim victory and tells him that he is Shanti's (and R.K.'s) son. Gupta tries to rescind the order that he has given Balwant, but Balwant has already kidnapped Ravi in order to get to Vijay. With the assistance of Shekhar and R.K., Vijay rescues Ravi. During the confrontation, Balwant tries to shoot Vijay but R.K. takes the bullet for him. Balwant and his goons are arrested. With his last breath, R.K. asks Vijay for forgiveness. Vijay forgives him and unites with the family. In addition, Vijay changes the name of his company from Shanti Constructions to Shanti-Raj Constructions.

Cast

 * Shashi Kapoor as Shekhar Kumar Gupta
 * Sanjeev Kumar as Raj Kumar "RK" Gupta
 * Amitabh Bachchan as Vijay Kumar
 * Hema Malini as Sheetal Verma
 * Raakhee as Geeta
 * Poonam Dhillon as Kusum "Babli" Gupta
 * Sachin as Ravi
 * Waheeda Rehman as Shanti (Special Appearance)
 * Prem Chopra as Balwant Rai
 * Iftekhar as P. L. Verma
 * Gita Siddharth as Kamini Gupta
 * Manmohan Krishna as Seth Dindayal
 * Yunus Parvez as Bhandari
 * Mohan Sherry as Gangu
 * M. B. Shetty as Madhav Singh
 * Manik Irani as Gangu's Henchman
 * Moolchand as Creditor

Credits

 * Director – Yash Chopra
 * Producer – Gulshan Rai
 * Production company – Trimurti Films
 * Writer – Salim–Javed
 * Art director – Desh Mukherjee
 * Chief assistant director – Ramesh Talwar
 * Editor – B. Mangeshkar
 * Lyrics – Sahir Ludhianvi
 * Singers – Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, K. J. Yesudas, Nitin Mukesh & Pamela Chopra

Soundtrack
All the songs were composed by Khayyam and lyrics were penned by Sahir Ludhianvi. Vocals are supplied by Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar (singing for Kapoor), Yesudas (singing for Kumar and Bachchan), Nitin Mukesh (singing for Sachin) and Pamela Chopra.

The soundtrack for this movie is credited for bringing the three legends of Indian film music – Kishore Kumar, Mangeshkar and Yesudas – together in a single song, "Mohabbat Bade Kaam Ki Cheez Hai".

Box office
In India, the film grossed ₹110 million (US$million), with net earnings of ₹55 million. It was declared a 'super hit' at the box office, becoming the second-highest grossing Indian film of 1978, below Muqaddar Ka Sikandar and above Don, both also starring Bachchan.

Overseas in the Soviet Union, the film released in May 1980, with 529 prints. It sold 29.7 million tickets at the Soviet box office, grossing an estimated million Rbls (US$million, or ₹million), bringing the film's worldwide gross to approximately ₹million (US$million).

Adjusted for inflation, its Indian gross is equivalent to US$million (₹billion) and its Soviet gross is equivalent to US$million (₹billion), for a total inflation-adjusted worldwide gross of US$million (₹billion).

In terms of footfalls, the film sold an estimated million tickets in India, and 29.7 million tickets in the Soviet Union, for an estimated total of million tickets sold worldwide.

Awards and nominations
26th Filmfare Awards:

Nominations
 * Best Film – Gulshan Rai
 * Best Director – Yash Chopra
 * Best Actor – Amitabh Bachchan
 * Best Supporting Actor – Sanjeev Kumar
 * Best Story – Salim–Javed

Legacy
Ziya Us Salam of The Hindu in his review of Yeh Hai Jalwa (2002) called it "a spoof of Trishul".

Popular culture
The movie was heavily referenced in Anurag Kashyap's 2012 crime film Gangs of Wasseypur. A Sinhala film with a similar story line was made with the title Hello Shyama by Director M.S. Anandan, starring Gamini Fonseka in the role of Sanjeev, and Shyama Anandan, daughter of M.S. Anandan, in the role played by Amitabh Bachchan.