The Great Gambler
The Great Gambler is a 1979 Indian action thriller film, known in Hindi as Sabse Bada Zuari (Hindi: सबसे बड़ा जुआरी), starring Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Neetu Singh and Prem Chopra. It was directed by Shakti Samanta.
| The Great Gambler | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Shakti Samanta |
| Produced by | C.V.K. Shastri |
| Written by | C.J. Pavri (adaptation) Vrajendra Gaur (dialogue) |
| Screenplay by | Shakti Samanta Ranjan Bose |
| Story by | Vikramaditya (novel) |
| Starring | Amitabh Bachchan Zeenat Aman Neetu Singh |
| Music by | Rahul Dev Burman |
| Cinematography | Aloke Dasgupta |
| Edited by | R.P. Bapat Pran Mehra |
Release date |
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Running time | 163 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
This film is an action thriller, and 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 initial release but has been widely appreciated for its action, direction and cinematography.
Synopsis
Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) 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 (Madan Puri), 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 (Jagdish Raj), 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 another underworld don named Saxena (Utpal Dutt). When the Indian police come to know of this, they assign the case to Inspector Vijay (also Amitabh Bachchan), who is a lookalike of Jai.
Jai and Vijay's paths are soon intertwined when both coincidentally sent to Rome where Vijay is sent to retrieve evidence against underworld don Saxena by his former henchman and Jai is onto a money-making scheme where he would marry Mala (Neetu Singh) 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 (Zeenat Aman), 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
- Roopesh Kumar as Sethi
- Madan Puri as Ratan Das
- Sujit Kumar as Marconi
- Iftekhar as Deepchand
- Utpal Dutt as Mr. Saxena
- Helen as Monica (Dancer)
- Jagdish Raj as Nath
- Om Shivpuri as CID Head Mr. Sen Verma (Inspector Vijay's Boss)
- Brahm Bhardwaj as White Haired Elder Indian Secret Agent In Rome.
Music
All lyrics written by Anand Bakshi. Music composed by Rahul Dev Burman.
| # | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Tum Kitne Din Baad Mile" | Asha Bhosle |
| 2 | "O Deewanon Dil Sambhalo" | Asha Bhosle |
| 3 | "Raqqasa Mera Naam" | Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi |
| 4 | "Do Lafzon Ki Hai Dil Ki Kahaani" | Asha Bhosle, Sharad Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan |
| 5 | "Pehle Pehle Pyaar Ki Mulaqaatein" | Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar |
Notes:
1) The song "Do Lafzon Ki Hai Dil Ki Kahaani" was shot on a Gondola in Venice's Grand Canal.
2) The song "Pehle Pehle Pyaar Ki Mulaqaatein" was shot in Eduardo VII Park, Lisbon.
References
Notes
In 1976, Amjad Khan had a severe accident on the Mumbai-Goa highway which left him with broken ribs and a punctured lung. He was going to participate in the shooting of this movie according to the initial casting but did not materialize. Due to this, his role was given to Utpal Dutt.