Reflections on a moving scene based on Death and Life from a Hindi movie (The Burning Train)

I wanted to share a certain sequence from an old Bollywood movie (The Burning Train, 1980). The movie itself was a blockbuster in its era, and although I have watched it in my childhood, I happened to rewatch it more than a year ago, and at that time, I realized a specific movie scene that was actually very deep and thoughtful, and I thought of posting about it on my blog. I decided to post my thoughts on that sequence. First of all, the particular movie scene I am talking about is available in the following clip of the movie from time stamp 2:23 to 6:40:

सीमा साथ मरने को तुम जुदाई कहती हो? सोचो ये मौत कितनी खूबसूरत होगी! | The Burning Train | Dharmendra

Basically, in this movie, an engineer (played by actor Vinod Khanna) builds a superfast train (called as the SuperFast Express) that was touted as the fastest train from Delhi to Mumbai. As the train takes its first journey after inauguration, one of his fellow engineers (out of sheer jealousy) hides an explosive in the train so that he can destroy it (although the train keeps on speeding as its major brakes fail due to the fire from explosion). The whole movie is based on the struggles and actions, including ultimately the main engineer (the actor Vinod Khanna) stepping into the train (his project and brainchild) quite like an action hero to save it, as it also had his own child travelling in it. Ultimately, in the end, the train does stop, and all its passengers are saved (something that happens in Bollywood movies but not in real life typically).

However, what captured my heart was the specific sequence (time stamp 2:23 to 6:40). Basically, two other actors (Jeetendra and Dharmendra) manage to solve a bottleneck (that of fire spreading from one train cabin to the other fast) by severing the cable that connected the compartments- this way the raging fire that was spreading did not get any more cabins to spread further; thus, the passengers managed to remain isolated in one big compartment of the superfast train. However, one of the older actors then remarks that although they have overcome fire, the train is still speeding without brakes, and so eventually it is destined to crash causing fatality, thus the small victory they achieved is temporary (note that by this time the savior actor has not yet embarked on the train). Read the dialogues:

Actor: “haan, aag to rok di, maut to nahi roki, maut to sirf tali hai, ruki to nahin. Ye train isi khoonkhari raftaar se bhaagti chali jayegi, jab tak ki maut ka station nahi aa jata.”

Others: “maut ka station?”

Actor: “Haan, maut ka station. Us station se jab ye train takrayegi to hum mein se koi nahi bachega, hum sab ke sab mar jayenge…sab ke sab..koi zinda nahi rahega…”

And after this, the scenes show shots of several actors and their stories and how they viewed the impending death, with part sorrow and resignation, but also then remembering God, which I found literary and depthful. The sequences of the several people who viewed impending death from their perspective are below:

1.     We are shown a Punjabi family where the mother is talking to her husband, holding her two children close, lamenting that she was crying not for herself but for her two children who have not even seen life that much and are still young. At that point, the husband consoles her and invokes God in his religion (Wahe Guru) and is seen praying.

2.     Next scene moves to the actor Dharmendra, where he is shown holding the actress Hema Malini (who had been separated from him for several years due to a small misunderstanding, but then they reunited on the train journey and reconciled) and they both lament that they just found each other back only to be separated by inevitable death so soon. But then the actor consoles her saying that they are not separated, as they both shall die together, and that death will be beautiful.

3.     We next see the second actor (Jeetendra) who was actually a thief, and he confesses to the actress (Neetu) that he originally came close to her on train to deceive her and steal her jewelry, but during the course of the journey, she in fact stole his heart, and he further confesses that if it were not for this disaster and chaos and fire and impending death, he may perhaps never have had the courage to reveal himself and his intentions to her. And we see that she also accepts that she already sensed his intentions but still fell in love with her eventually.

4.     Next, we see a doctor treating wounds of a patient who questions the point of it, given they are all destined to die in a matter of time. The doctor responds that a doctor is like the captain of a sinking ship; hence, he should continue to perform his duty (that of treating the wounded) until the last breath.

5.     Next, we see another group who remark to keep faith in God and everything should be alright.

6.     We then see the same old actor (whose dialogues I wrote down earlier) with his crying wife, where the wife is grieving that how will their children identify their burnt bodies after their death, and what if they end up hugging some stranger’s burnt body and lamenting for them. That particular dialogue felt too true but sad as well, and is a harsh reality.

7.     Next, we are shown two priests (one Hindu and other Islamic) talking and the Islamic priest (Maulana) remarks that he now understood that death is neither Hindu nor Muslim. And that indeed death has no religion.

8.     Next, we see a pregnant woman in labor with her mother, who is lamenting that what is the point of bringing a newborn into this world when that life is going to be taken in some minutes anyways. She is thus lamenting about the futility of delivering a child who may open his eyes only for them to be closed by the tragic death of the train journey.

9.     Lastly, we see a teacher surrounded by little children. The children ask her curiously what death was and will they die. To that, the teacher replies them to pray to God. And after that a very very beautiful song/prayer to God plays ( Teri Hai Zameen Tera Aasmaan - Padmini Kolhapure | Jeetendra, Neetu Singh | The Burning Train ).

 

How each individual viewed the impending death gives us an insight into their life and its desires. It also puts everything in perspective that how the person reaches out to God in times of distress and faced with death. And how other chose to continue to do their duty as it's their dharma and karma. How each person expressed their sorrow and unmet desires and last hopes is pitted against the little children- who only want to know what in fact is death, as a child’s heart does not think of other worldly things. Moreover, the actor reminding the passengers that although they have delayed death by overcoming fire, death shall still find them as the train was speeding without brakes. From the perspective of the movie, one can see it that although the passengers were saved from the burning train at the end (as it was a movie), in the movie of life, the train called Life is still speeding and can never be truly stopped although one may manage to delay or stop some of its troubles for a while....

This somehow reminds one of the Islamic ideas where God urges one that each soul shall taste death and so not to be too attached to the Dunya. Man may build long towers and try to protect himself from floods or other calamities, but the Angel of Death would still find him...So the idea is to continuously remember God (Dhikr) and not just when faced with life-threatening disaster alone...

 

   Interestingly, I happened to remember a small anecdote related to this movie though. I still vividly remember once I was waiting for a train with my mother in India and had to take the train to get somewhere. As soon as I heard the train whistle and saw the train, the first thing that captured my eyes and also caused my heart to sink was the name of the train as it had the name “Superfast Express” on it. I obviously remembered that movie and how the doomed train in it shared same name and all through the travel I was panicking (although nobody knew about it) as I was certain the train would crash and burn. I now look back and understand now but, in any case, I continue to highly despise travel (any kind) or any sort anywhere (especially in the country called India).