The Burning Train

Hand painted Bollywood movie poster for sale of the old Hindi film, The Burning Train (1980).

Featured here is an actual surviving original Bollywood poster of the 1980 action drama directed by Ravi Chopra that featured a stellar star cast comprising Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Vinod Khanna, Parveen Babi, Jeetendra and Neetu Singh in key roles.

Produced by B.R Chopra, The Burning Train (1980) also starred an ensemble supporting cast of Simi Garewal, Navin Nischol, Danny Denzongpa, Nazir Hussain, Asha Sachdev, Madan Puri, Sujit Kumar, Ranjeet, Asrani, Mukri, Shammi, Rajendra Nath, Iftekhar, Paintal, Keshto Mukherjee, Mac Mohan, Nana Palshikar, Urmila Bhatt and Indrani Mukherjee.

Produced on a very expensive budget, The Burning Train (1980) was an action packed thriller inspired from a Japanese movie called The Bullet Train (1975). It told the gripping story of an unstoppable express train that catches fire on it’s maiden run. The plot of the film was very similar to the Hollywood blockbusters Speed (1994) and Unstoppable (2010).

The film is widely regarded as a “cult classic” of Indian cinema, making this hand painted Bollywood movie poster, highly collectible!

This hand painted Bollywood movie poster was originally designed on canvas by an art studio. It has a very dramatic and striking appearance. Actor Dharmendra is seen carrying actress Hema Malini in his arms. They are surrounded by flames in a mix of orange, red and yellow in the background. The burning train is seen at the bottom of this hand painted Bollywood movie poster. Also seen in the background are a couple of helicopters and explosions, suggesting the action theme of the film.

Typography used in this old Bollywood poster is entirely in English, with the title appearing amidst burning flames at the bottom in a 3D font.

The soundtrack album of The Burning Train (1980) was composed by legendary composer R.D. Burman, while lyrics were written by Sahir Ludhianvi. It contained gems like “Pal Do Pal Ka Saath Humara” sung by Mohammed Rafi & Asha Bhosle, “Teri Hai Zameen Tera Aasman” sung by Padmini Kolhapure & Sushma Shrestha and “Pehli Nazar Mein” sung by Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle & Usha Mangeshkar.