Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

***Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom*** is a 1984 movie starring Harrison Ford and directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second movie in the Indiana Jones movie series and the prequel to _Raiders of the Lost Ark_.

## Cast

- Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones
- Kate Capshaw as Willie Scott
- Ke Huy Quan as Short Round
- Amrish Puri as Mola Ram
- Roshan Seth as Chattar Lal
- Roy Chiao as Lao Che
- Philip Stone as Captain Philip Blumburtt

## Plot

The movie is set in 1934. Indiana Jones meets a gangster named Lao Che in Shanghai. Lao Che wants the ashes of the Manchurian emperor Nurachi. In turn, he will give Jones a rare diamond. They trade items. However, Lao Che put poison in Jones's drink and offers him the antidote for the diamond. A fight ensues, where one of Lao Che's sons is killed and a dancer named Willie Scott picks up the antidote. Jones and Scott leap out a window, where they are driven by Jones's sidekick Short Round through Shanghai. They then get on plane but do not know that it is owned by Lao Che.

Lao Che orders the pilots of his plane to parachute out to try to kill Jones. However, Jones uses a life boat and lands safely in a river. They are then greeted by a village leader in India who tells them that a group of men took their Sankara Stone and kidnapped their children. He asks if the three of them will go help them find the stone and their children. Jones agrees and the three of them go out on elephants.

They arrive at Pankot Palace where they are greeted by the Prime Minister Chattar Lal. While staying there during the night, a big man tries to kill Jones. Jones finds a secret door and find a large underground temple underneath the palace run by the Thuggee cult members. He sees the three Sankara Stones there. The three of them watch their leader, Mola Ram, sacrifice a man by pulling out his heart and lowering him into a lava pit where he burns to death. The Thuggees see them and capture them.

Jones meets Mola Ram, the one that kidnapped the children and stole the stone. He forces the children to work as slaves in the mine to find more of the stones. He has Jones drink the blood of Kali. The blood brainwashes Jones and puts him under a spell. Ram then shows him Scott, who they captured. Jones puts her in a cage and starts to lower her down into a lava pit. Short Round, who was working at the mines, gets free. He takes a torch and burns Jones, who comes to his senses. He saves Scott, takes the stones, and starts to get out of there.

He frees the children from their chains. However, another big man, starts to fight Jones. Jones is winning but when he is about to beat the guy, he suddenly goes into great pain. Short Round tries to help but cannot help very much. He looks up and sees that the Maharaja of Pankot is using a voodoo doll and hurting Jones. Short Round climbs up to the top and burns him as well and comes to his senses, just in time. The three heroes go into the mine cart to escape, leading a long chase where they barely escape.

Mola Ram traps them over a bridge. Jones signals to his friends to hold on and then he cuts the rope. Most of the Thuggees die when they are eaten by crocodiles down below. The rest of the people hang onto the bridge, which hits a cliff. Scott and Short Round easily make it up. Ram and Jones fight. It ends when Jones utters a chant that makes the stones very hot. Ram grabs one, his hand is burned, and falls to his death below and is eaten by crocodiles.

A group of Indian riflemen then come down and shoots at the Thuggees, driving them back. Jones brings the stone and all the children back to the village.

## Controversy

The movies's depiction of Hinduism, particularly the depiction of human sacrifice, and the depiction of Indian food drew criticism. The movie shows Indian people eating baby snakes, eyeball soup, worms, and monkey brains. This has led to widespread belief that such eating habits are common in India.

The movie also drew criticism for its White Savior storyline. It shows Indiana Jones as a white hero suddenly appearing to save the kidnapped children of the poor Indian villagers, with the villagers unable to help themselves.

The moviemakers were not permitted to film in India and in Amer Fort in Rajasthan, which was to be the movie location for the fictional Pankot Palace, due to the Indian government finding the movie script offensive and racist.

The movie was not shown in cinemas in India, because it was temporarily banned. The movie was later shown in India, when it came out on video cassette.

## Infobox (film)

- **name**: Indiana Jones and the
Temple of Doom
- **director**: Steven Spielberg
- **producer**: Robert Watts
- **story**: George Lucas
- **music**: John Williams
- **cinematography**: Douglas Slocombe
- **editing**: Michael Kahn
- **studio**: Lucasfilm Ltd.
- **distributor**: Paramount Pictures
- **runtime**: 118 minutes
- **country**: United States
- **language**: English
- **budget**: $28.17 million
- **gross**: $333.1 million