Trishul (transl. Trident) 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, Sachin and Waheeda Rehman.

Trishul
Film poster
Directed byYash Chopra
Written bySalim–Javed
Produced byGulshan Rai
StarringShashi Kapoor
Sanjeev Kumar
Amitabh Bachchan
Hema Malini
Raakhee
Poonam Dhillon
Sachin
CinematographyKay Gee
Edited byB. Mangeshkar
Music byMohammed Zahur Khayyam
Production
company
Distributed byYash Raj Films
Trimurti Films
Release date
  • 5 May 1978 (1978-05-05)
Running time
168 mins
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi[1]
Budgetest.8.8 million[2]
Box officeest.110 million[2]

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.[3]

Plot edit

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 edit

Credits edit

Soundtrack edit

All the songs[4] were composed by Khayyam and lyrics were penned by Sahir Ludhianvi. Vocals are supplied by Kishore Kumar (singing for Kapoor), Lata Mangeshkar, 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".

# Title Singer(s) Duration
1 "Gapoochi Gapoochi Gam Gam" Lata Mangeshkar, Nitin Mukesh 04:09
2 "Ja Ri Behna Ja" Kishore Kumar, Yesudas & Pamela Chopra 03:05
3 "Jo Ho Yaar Apna" Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar 03:29
4 "Mohabbat Bade Kaam Ki Cheez Hai" Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar & Yesudas 04:38
5 "Janeman Tum Kamal Karte Ho" Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar 05:37
6 "Aap Ki Maheki Hui Zulf Ko" Lata Mangeshkar, Yesudas 03:09
7 "Tu Mere Saath Rahega" Lata Mangeshkar 06:29

Reception edit

Box office edit

In India, the film grossed 110 million[5] ($13.4 million),[6] with net earnings of ₹55 million.[5] 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.[5]

Overseas in the Soviet Union, the film released in May 1980, with 529 prints.[7] It sold 29.7 million tickets at the Soviet box office,[8] grossing an estimated 7.43 million Rbls[9] ($11.7 million,[10] or ₹92 million),[11] bringing the film's worldwide gross to approximately ₹202 million ($25.1 million).

Adjusted for inflation, its Indian gross is equivalent to $62.6 million (₹4.64 billion) and its Soviet gross is equivalent to $43.3 million (₹3.21 billion), for a total inflation-adjusted worldwide gross of $105.9 million (₹7.84 billion).

In terms of footfalls, the film sold an estimated 43 million tickets in India,[5][12] and 29.7 million tickets in the Soviet Union,[8] for an estimated total of 72.7 million tickets sold worldwide.

Awards and nominations edit

26th Filmfare Awards:

Nominations

Legacy edit

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

Popular culture edit

The movie was heavily referenced in Anurag Kashyap's 2012 crime film Gangs of Wasseypur.[13] 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.

References edit

  1. ^ Aḵẖtar, Jāvīd; Kabir, Nasreen Munni (2002). Talking Films: Conversations on Hindi Cinema with Javed Akhtar. Oxford University Press. p. 49. ISBN 9780195664621. JA: I write dialogue in Urdu, but the action and descriptions are in English. Then an assistant transcribes the Urdu dialogue into Devnagari because most people read Hindi. But I write in Urdu.
  2. ^ a b "Trishul (1978) Hindi Movie Review, Budget and Box Office Collection". Bollywood Product. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  3. ^ "When Rishi Kapoor accused Salim Khan of threatening to destroy his career: 'We created Amitabh Bachchan, who destroyed Rajesh Khanna'". 21 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Trishul (1978): Lyrics and videos of songs". Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d "India Box-office 1978". Archived from the original on 20 October 2013.
  6. ^ "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) - India". World Bank. 1978. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Трезубец бога Шивы — дата выхода в России и других странах". KinoPoisk (in Russian). Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  8. ^ a b ""Трезубец бога Шивы" (Trishul, 1978)". KinoPoisk (in Russian). Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  9. ^ Roth-Ey, Kristin (2011). "Chapter 1: The Soviet Film Industry" (PDF). Moscow Prime Time: How the Soviet Union Built the Media Empire that Lost the Cultural Cold War. Cornell University Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-8014-4874-4.
  10. ^ "Archive". Central Bank of Russia. Archived from the original on 29 December 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  11. ^ "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) - India". World Bank. 1980. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  12. ^ Mittal, Ashok (1995). Cinema Industry in India: Pricing and Taxation. Indus Publishing. p. 71. ISBN 9788173870231.
  13. ^ Mohamed, Khalid (22 June 2012). "Gangs of Wasseypur review: Gangster-e-Azam of sorts". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2020.

External links edit