# 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. The film features an ensemble cast of Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Vinod Khanna, Hema Malini, Parveen Babi, Neetu Singh, Vinod Mehra and Danny Denzongpa. The plot revolves around a train named the Super Express, that catches fire on its inaugural run from New Delhi to Mumbai.
Inspired by the 1974 Hollywood disaster film The Towering Inferno, the film 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 ₹6.5 crore worldwide and considered moderately successful 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 best friends. Ashok is the son of a wealthy businessman and is passionate about cars, whereas Vinod and Randhir are passionate about trains. They all grow up to become railway engineers with the dream of building the fastest moving train in the country. Ashok falls for Seema and Vinod falls for Sheetal. Sheetal marries Vinod and gives birth to a boy, Raju.
One day Vinod, who is now a top notch railway engineer, gets awarded the contract to build a super-fast express train between New Delhi and Mumbai. Rakesh is his assistant. Randhir, the losing engineer and ex-lover of Sheetal swears revenge and leaves.
Tragedy strikes when Ashok gets the news that his father, Seth Dharmdas, committed suicide after losses in his business. Seema deceives him, and forlorn Ashok turns wanderer.
After six years of hard work, Vinod triumphs in building the train. This intense focus on his work takes a toll on his marriage. A day before the train's maiden journey, Sheetal tries to fetch Vinod for their anniversary party but he refuses, choosing to prepare for the train journey. An estranged Sheetal leaves Vinod with their son, Raju, on the train to go to her mother.
The train is set to cover the journey from Delhi to Bombay in 14 hours. Many passengers board from Delhi, including Raja Ram Mohan and his wife, Padmini; absconding smuggler Chander and his fiancée Razia with Inspector Ranveer in their chase them in a disguise; Major P. K. Bhandari, a Pandit Shambhunath; a Muslim Abdul Rahim; ticketless passengers; a schoolteacher with students; Rakesh's pregnant wife; Seema with her doctor cousin and Ashok who is confounded to see Seema; and above all, Ravi, a prowler tailing Madhu, is running from a forcible splice with the jewelry, and they crush.
Randhir escorts the train, seemingly meaning no harm, but later sabotages the vacuum brakes and stealthily plants a bomb in the engine room before leaving. Ashok also departs after checking on Seema, he encounters and accompanies Randhir when he divulges his gruesome plan. 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 brakes. Panic-stricken Vinod and the Railway Board are desperately try to save the passengers. Vinod successfully converses with the passengers via All India Radio and outlines how to apply emergency brakes. Hence, Ashok, Ravi, and 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 explodes. Whereat, Usman Ali and several passengers die, but Ashok and Ravi barely make it back by erecting gaps between the compartments. Consequently, Ashok understands Seema's 'betrayal' as her disability had led to an amputation in a mishap, and they reconcile. Vinod makes plan B by sending a helicopter to land one on the engine, which Randhir successfully sabotages but seemingly forges his own death as the helicopter blasts.
Parallelly, Ravi divulges his identity 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 and Ravi cross the fire where Randhir awaits, whom they stop. Here, Vinod detects that all systems will fail if Ashok's plan of blasting the couplings from the engine is carried out, and will pose a threat of derailment, and then he picks up the incline. Ravi backs him and instructs the passengers to tie themselves to their seats. Vinod and Ashok blow up the couplings while climbing the slope and jump off the derailing engine.
The engine crashes and explodes at the Bombay Railway Station, but the coaches slow down and come to a halt. Finally, the film ends on a happy note, with the passengers conjoining with their relatives and giving tribute to the soul of India.

## Cast

| Actor | Character | Notes |
| Dharmendra | Ashok Singh | A rich man who loves to drive cars at high speeds |
| Vinod Khanna | Vinod Verma | Railway mechanical engineer |
| Jeetendra | Ravi | Thief |
| Hema Malini | Seema | Ashok's love interest |
| Parveen Babi | Sheetal Vinod Verma | Vinod's wife |
| Neetu Singh Kapoor | Madhu | Ravi's love interest |
| Vinod Mehra | Rakesh | |
| Danny Denzongpa | Randhir | |
| Navin Nischol | | Doctor |
| Simi Garewal | | School teacher |
| Asha Sachdev | Ramkali | Qawwali singer |
| Madan Puri | Seth Dharamdas Singh | Ashok's father |
| Nazir Hussain | Verma | Vinod's father |
| Nana Palshikar | | Seema's uncle |
| Urmila Bhatt | | Randhir's mother |
| Iftekhar | | Railway Board Chairman |
| Chandrashekhar | | Railway divisional manager |
| Jagdish Raj | Dango | Motorman of Super Express |
| M. Rajan | Jeevanlal | Motorman of Super Express |
| Dinesh Thakur | Usman Ali | Train Guard |
| Jankidas | | Ticket Checker |
| Mac Mohan | Mac | Assistant supervisor |
| Sujit Kumar | Ranveer | Police Inspector |
| Ranjeet | Chander | Smuggler |
| Komila Virk | Razia | Chander's Associate |
| Asrani | P.K.Bhandari | Army Major |
| Romesh Sharma | Udesh | |
| Pramila Kapila | Ritu | Udesh's wife |
| Om Shivpuri | Raja Rammohan | |
| Indrani Mukherjee | Rani Padmini | Raja Rammohan's wife |
| Mukri | Kanhaiya | Marwadi Seth |
| Shammi | | Marwadi Seth Wife |
| Sudha Shivpuri | | Rakesh's mother-in-law |
| Ravindra Kapoor | |
| Renu Joshi | | |
| Yunus Parvez | Abdul Rehmann | Maulana |
| Rajendra Nath | Shambhunath | Pandit |
| T.P Jain | | Pathan |
| Anand Balraj | | Guy with guitar |
| Khushbu | Child artiste | School student |
| Paintal | | Ticketless travellers |
| Keshto Mukherjee | | Ticketless travellers |

## Soundtrack

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