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The Great Gambler
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Wikipedia article
'The Great Gambler' is a 1979 Indian crime action film directed by Shakti Samanta starring Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Neetu Singh and Prem Chopra. It was based on the Bengali novel 'Great Gambler' by Vikramaditya. The movie was reported to have done poorly at the box office with a decent business only in the Bombay circuit but has since attained cult status.
This fil's its story is based on international gangsters, spies, and secret agents of different countries' intelligence agencies and their undercover operations. This film had high production costs with a significant portions of it being shot in international locations including Cairo, Lisbon, Venice and Rome, and in India, many scenes were shot in Goa. The film was a box office failure on the initial release but has been widely appreciated for its action, direction, and cinematography.
Plot
Jai is an expert gambler, has been for as long as he can remember, and has never lost a game. These skills bring him to the attention of the underworld don Ratan Das, who is interested in hiring him to win large amounts of money from rich people and then influencing them into doing whatever he wants. Jai agrees to do so, and plays successfully, though unknowingly to entrap Nath, who works for the government. After losing large amounts of money, he is blackmailed into revealing the blueprints of a top-secret military laser weapon that can hit any target within 50 miles and is wanted by an underworld don named Saxena. When the Indian police come to know of this, they assign the case to Inspector Vijay, who is a lookalike of Jai.
Jai and Vijay's paths are soon intertwined when they both travel to Rome with separate missions. Vijay is sent to retrieve the evidence against underworld don Saxena by one of his former henchman, and Jai is onto a money-making scheme where he would marry Mala to inherit her money. Mala, however, meets Vijay at the Rome airport, and Vijay decides to go along with this to find out who his lookalike is. Jai meets Shabnam, a club dancer who mistakes him for Vijay, and was sent by Saxena to stop him on his mission to discover Saxena's plans. It is later revealed that Jai and Vijay are actually long-lost twin brothers, and together they team up to stop Saxena from retrieving the laser weapon.
Cast
*Amitabh Bachchan as Jay / C.I.D. Inspector Vijay (Double Role)
*Zeenat Aman as Shabnam
*Neetu Singh as Mala
*Prem Chopra as Ramesh / Abbasi
*Madan Puri as Ratan Das
*Sujit Kumar as Marconi
*Utpal Dutt as Mr. Saxena
*Roopesh Kumar as Sethi
*Helen as Monica (Dancer)
*Iftekhar as Deepchand
*Jagdish Raj as Nath
*Om Shivpuri as CID Head Mr. Sen Verma (Vijay's Boss)
Production
Amjad Khan was initially cast as the character Saxena; due to a road accident, he was unable to continue, and was replaced by Utpal Dutt.
Music
All lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi. Music was composed by R. D. Burman.
Notes :-
1) The song '"Do Lafzon Ki Hai Dil Ki Kahani"' was shot on a Gondola in Venice's Grand Canal.
References
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