''Shalimar'' is a 1978 bilingual Indian film, written and directed by Krishna Shah. The film starred

Dharmendra Dharmendra Kewal Krishan Deol (born 8 December 1935), known mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer, and politician who is primarily known for his work in Hindi films. Dharmendra is widely considered one of the greatest, most h ...

Zeenat Aman Zeenat Amanullah Khan (born 19 November 1951), known professionally as Zeenat Aman, is an Indian actress and model who mainly works in Hindi films. One of the leading actresses of Hindi cinema, she established herself as one of the highest paid ...

, Sir Rex Harrison,

Shammi Kapoor Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor; (pronounced Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �ʌmːi kʌpuːɾ 21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) was an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema. Kapoor is considered one of the greatest and most s ...

John Saxon John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico; August 5, 1936 – July 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked on more than 200 film and television projects during a span of 60 years. He was known for his work in Westerns and horror films, often playing ...

and

Sylvia Miles Sylvia Miles (née Scheinwald; September 9, 1924 – June 12, 2019) was an American actress. She was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performances in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969) and '' Farewell, My Lovel ...

. This was the only Bollywood film that English actor Sir Rex Harrison and American actors

and

appeared in.

Jayamalini Jayamalini (or Jaya Malini) is an Indian actress who has acted in more than 500 Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi movies. Personal life She married Parthiban, a police inspector on 19 July 1994 and settled in Chennai with her only s ...

does a dance number in the film. This was the last time that

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice ...

's voice was picturized on

. Its English version is known as ''Raiders of the Sacred Stone''. Rex Harrison's voice was dubbed by

Kader Khan Kader Khan (22 October 1937 – 31 December 2018) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and film producer. As an actor, he appeared in over 300 Bollywood films after his debut in the 1973 film '' Daag'', starring Rajesh Khanna, as a prosecuting l ...

. The plot is inspired by the novel ''The Vulture is a Patient Bird'' by

James Hadley Chase James Hadley Chase (24 December 1906 – 6 February 1985) was an English writer. While his birth name was René Lodge Brabazon Raymond, he was well known by his various pseudonyms, including James Hadley Chase, James L. Docherty, Raymond ...

, The film's script was novelized by Manohar Malagaonkar. Shalimar is the most expensive movie ever made in India. The English version of the movie was released in the United States titled as the ''Raiders of the Sacred Stone''. It has been marketed on DVD under the name ''The Deadly Thief''.

Plot

On the run from the police, S.S. Kumar (

), a thief, comes across a private invitation to the island of Sir John Locksley ( Sir Rex Harrison) addressed to Raja Bahadur Singh when Kumar steals it from the Raja after the Raja is shot. Kumar then takes the Raja to a nearby hospital, dons a Sikh's turban, poses as the Raja's son, Bahadur Singh, Jr., and goes to the private island of Sir John with the stolen invitation. Also attending are K.P.W. Iyengar aka Romeo, a

lothario Lothario is an Italian name used as shorthand for an unscrupulous seducer of women, based upon a character in '' The Fair Penitent'', a 1703 tragedy by Nicholas Rowe.

; Dr. Dubari, a follower of all world religions; Colonel Columbus, a mute; and Countess Sylvia Rasmussen, an acrobat. A stunned Kumar finds out that all of these invitees are master criminals and thieves. Kumar's guise does not fool anyone, including his former sweetheart, Sheila Enders (

) who works for Sir John. The real Bahadur Singh, Jr. is then seen by his father's bedside. Nevertheless, Sir John permits him to stay on, as he feels that Kumar's career, though an amateur, is consistent with those already present. The reason why John has invited them is to find a successor to take his place as he is dying of cancer. He feels that one of his invitees can be trusted to take his place and for this he has arranged for them to steal the Shalimar Diamond worth 135 crores of rupees. This gem is placed in a secure room within his palace, which is alarmed, and guarded by armed men 24 hours a day. The ruby itself is located within a display case of

bulletproof glass Bulletproof glass, ballistic glass, transparent armor, or bullet-resistant glass is a strong and optically transparent material that is particularly resistant to penetration by projectiles, although, like any other material, it is not completel ...

and surrounded by a minefield. He challenges one of them to steal the Shalimar - but if anyone fails then they are killed by the security system. Columbus, Rasmussen, and Dr Dubari perish while trying to steal Shalimar. Kumar claims, to the disbelief of the others, that Columbus let out a scream before dying. Columbus's body is then taken by the local tribe and revered. Romeo revokes his name from the competition, but he is killed by Sir John and reveals that he can walk. Sir John who has become insecure after claiming Shalimar, believes that these veteran criminals may try to rob it, hence he plays a handicapped and cancer card, and invited the criminals so that they would be killed during the competition. Kumar then attempts to steal the Shalimar and he succeeds, the Local tribe leaders kill Sir John as he had promised the Shalimar to them. Later its shown that Kumar is actual a CBI officer (selected from the Army) on this special mission, to arrest the master criminals. Kumar and Sheila get married.

Release

The film was released in two versions; Hindi and in English (titled as ''Raiders of the Sacred Stone'') for the USA release.

Cast

as S.S. Kumar *

as Sheila Enders * Sir Rex Harrison as Sir John Locksley *

as Dr. Dubari *

as Colonel Columbus *

as Countess Rasmussen * O. P. Ralhan as K.P.W. Iyengar (Romeo) *Clyde Chai-Fa as Dogro *

Prem Nath Premnath Malhotra, better known as Prem Nath (21 November 1926 – 3 November 1992) was an Indian actor and director, who was best known for his works in Hindi films. Nath made his debut with the film ''Ajit'' (1948), and went on to appear in ...

as Raja Bahadur Singh *

Shreeram Lagoo Dr. Shriram Lagoo (16 November 1927 – 17 December 2019) was an Indian film and theatre actor, in Hindi and Marathi, in addition to being an ENT Surgeon. He was known for his character roles in films. He acted in over 250 films including Hin ...

as Tolaram *

Aruna Irani Aruna Irani (born 18 August 1946) is an Indian actress, who has acted in over 500 films throughout Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati cinema, playing mostly supporting and character roles. She received two Filmfare Awards for Best Support ...

as Dance Teacher * M. B. Shetty as Tribal Chief *

as tribal dancer

Soundtrack

The music of this movie was given by the legendary music composer R. D. Burman while

Anand Bakshi Anand Bakshi (21 July 1930 – 30 March 2002) was an Indian poet and lyricist. He won Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist 4 times during his career. He wrote over 6000 film songs in more than 300 films. Early life Anand Bakshi (Bakshi Anand Pr ...

penned the lyrics. "''Hum Bewafaa Hargiz Na The''" sung by

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born Abhas Kumar Ganguly; ; 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer, musician and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of modern India ...

is an evergreen song of this album. The soundtrack was featured in the book, ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music criti ...

''.

Awards

;; 26th Filmfare Awards: Nominated * Best Music Director – R. D. Burman * Best Male Playback Singer –

for "Hum Bewafaa" * Best Female Playback Singer –

Usha Uthup Usha Iyer Uthup (born 8 November 1947) is an Indian singer known for her deep contralto voice and her versatility across genres and languages. A prominent figure in Indian music since the 1970s, she has received a Filmfare Award, and was honoure ...

for "One Two Cha Cha Cha"

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0078241, Shalimar 1970s Hindi-language films 1970s Indian films 1978 films Indian adventure films Films scored by R. D. Burman American adventure films English-language Indian films Indian multilingual films American multilingual films 1978 multilingual films 1970s American films Hindi-language adventure films English-language adventure films