>Rodw at 18:42, 4 June 2021

2021-06-04T18:42:31Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Adventures of Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves
| image = Alibaba40film.jpg
| caption = Indian poster
| director = [[Umesh Mehra]] (Hindi) Latif Faiziyev (Russian)
| producer = F.C. Mehra
| based_on = {{Based on|''[[Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves]]'' (''[[Arabian Nights]]'')}}
| writer = Shanti Prakash Bakshi (Hindi) Boris Saakov (Russian)
| narrator =
| starring = [[Dharmendra]] [[Hema Malini]] [[Zeenat Aman]]
| music = [[R. D. Burman]]
| cinematography =
| editing =
| studio = Eagle Films [[Uzbekfilm]]
| distributor =
| released = {{release date|1980|05|30|df=y}}
| runtime = 153 minutes
| country = [[India]] [[USSR]]
| language = [[Hindi]] [[Russian language|Russian]]
| budget =
| gross = {{estimation}} {{US$|{{#expr:7.634+20.5 round 2}} million|long=no}} ({{INR|{{#expr:60+161.13}} million}})
}}

'''''Adventures of Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves''''' ({{lang-hi|'''Alibaba Aur 40 Chor'''|italic=yes}}, {{lang-ru|Приключения Али-Бабы и сорока разбойников|'''Priklucheniya Ali-Baby i soroka razboynikov'''}}) is a 1980 Indian-[[Cinema of the Soviet Union|Soviet film]] based on the ''[[Arabian Nights]]'' story of ''[[Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves]]'', directed by [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]] director Latif Faiziyev with Indian director [[Umesh Mehra]]. The film stars Indian actors [[Dharmendra]], [[Hema Malini]] and [[Zeenat Aman]] alongside [[Russians|Russian]], [[Caucasus|Caucasian]] and [[Central Asia]]n actors. The storyline is slightly altered to extend as a long movie. The writers were Shanti Prakash Bakshi and Boris Saakov, the music was scored by musician [[R.D. Burman]], and the [[Choreographer]] was [[P. L. Raj]].<ref name="hindu">{{Cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/alibaba-aur-40-chor-1979/article17407847.ece |title=Alibaba Aur 40 Chor (1979) |last=Malhotra |first=A. P. S. |date=4 March 2017 |work=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=11 May 2018}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KdsEGU-JxFIC&dq=dharmendra+alibaba&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=dharmendra ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'', Volume 101, Issues 18-34]</ref><ref name="nashfilm">{{cite web |title=Приключения Али-Бабы и сорока разбойников – в Багдаде все спокойно |url=http://www.nashfilm.ru/sovietkino/1435.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013151717/http://www.nashfilm.ru/sovietkino/1435.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 October 2007 |website=Nashfilm |accessdate=13 October 2007}}</ref> It was the most successful Indian-Soviet co-production, becoming a success in both India and the Soviet Union.

== Plot ==

The story is about a poor lad named Ali Baba ([[Dharmendra]]) who lives in the town of Gulabad, somewhere in [[Central Asia]], with his mother and elder brother Qasim who owns a small petty shop. Ali Baba's father Yousuf is a merchant in a faraway land who has never returned since he last left when Ali Baba was born. So poor Ali Baba makes a living out of selling timber cut from the hills. Gulabad is terrorized by a band of 40 [[dacoit]]s. They hide their loot in a magical cave in the deserted hills. When the bandit leader recites the magical spell it opens and when he says another spell it closes. When news reaches them that his father has gone missing, Ali Baba goes in his search and not only finds his father but also rescues princess Marjeena ([[Hema Malini]]) from the guards of the king who murdered her father to become king. Both Marjeena and Ali Baba fall in love with each other. Then they are attacked, Marjeena is taken captive, and his father is killed. After burying his father, Ali Baba finds out that Marjeena is being sold in the slave market, he borrows money from Qasim, and uses that to pay for Marjeena, and brings her home. Qasim wants to recover his money, and as a result, decides to evict Ali Baba from their family home. Ali Baba and his mother leave the home. It is then the [[qazi]] of the region announces a reward for the capture of notorious bandit Abu Hassan. A young girl named Fatima ([[Zeenat Aman]]) whose father has been murdered by the dacoits has a score to settle with Abu Hassan ([[Rolan Bykov]]). Fatima pledges her support to Ali Baba in killing Abu Hassan. Shortly, thereafter Ali Baba comes to know the secret hideout of Abu Hassan and its magic spells to open it. He also gets some gold and jewelry from there, which he distributes amongst villagers for diverting some water to their parched land. Ali Baba's greedy brother Qasim lures Ali Baba into telling him where the cave is and what the magic spells are. Out of greed, Qasim takes so much gold jewelry and coin, as a result of which, he forgets the spell to reopen the door and gets stuck inside. When the dacoits find him they kill him. Ali Baba then informs the qazi about Abu Hassan's hideout. What Ali Baba does not know is that the qazi and Abu Hassan is the same person and that the qazi has given instructions to his men to ensure that Ali Baba is killed, so that no one can get their hands on his treasure. Abu Hassan hides the 40 thieves in large urns to kill Ali Baba. Ali Baba comes to know of this and kills them all with the help of Fatima. He brings to light the startling truth that their own ruler heads the dacoits.

== Cast ==
* [[Dharmendra]] as Alibaba
* [[Hema Malini]] as Marjeena
* [[Zeenat Aman]] as Fatima
* [[Prem Chopra]] as Shamsher
* [[Madan Puri]] as Fatima's Father
* [[Mac Mohan]] as Mehmood
* [[Rolan Bykov]] as Abu Hassan
* Zakir Mukhamedzhanov as Yousuf
* [[Sofiko Chiaureli]] as Ali Baba's Mother
* Yakub Akhmedov as Kasym
* Khodzha Durdy Narliyev as Khamid
* [[Elena Sanayeva]] as Simsim, the ghost of the cave

== Soundtrack ==
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! Song !! Singer
|-
| "Aaja Sar-E-Bazar"
| [[Lata Mangeshkar]]
|-
| "Qayamat Qayamat"
| [[Lata Mangeshkar]]
|-
| "Sare Shahar Mein Ek Haseen Hai, Aur Woh Main Hoon"
| [[Lata Mangeshkar]], '''[[Asha Bhosle]]'''
|-
| "Jadugar Jadu Kar Jayega, Kisiko Samajh Nahin Aayega"
| [[Kishore Kumar]], '''[[Asha Bhosle]]'''
|-
| "Khatouba Khatouba"
| '''[[Asha Bhosle]]'''
|-
|}

== Box office ==
''Ali Baba'' was the most successful Indian-Soviet co-production, becoming a financial success in India and an even bigger hit in the Soviet Union.<ref name="Salazkina">{{cite journal |last=Salazkina |first=Masha |title=Soviet-Indian Coproductions: ''Alibaba'' as Political Allegory |journal=[[Cinema Journal]] |date=2010 |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=71–89 [72–73] |doi=10.1353/cj.2010.0002 |url=https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/978004/1/Soviet-Indian_coproductions_proofs.pdf#page=4}}</ref> In [[India]], it was the eighth [[List of highest-grossing Indian films|top-grossing film]] of 1980, earning {{INR|30 million}} [[Entertainment tax|nett]] from a gross collection of {{INR|60 million}}<ref name="boi80">{{cite web |title=Box Office 1980 |url=http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=186&catName=MTk4MA== |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029225849/http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=186&catName=MTk4MA== |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 October 2008 |website=[[Box Office India]] |accessdate=29 October 2008}}</ref> ({{US$|{{#expr:60/7.86 round 2}} million|long=no}}).<ref name="inr80">{{cite web |title=Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/PA.NUS.FCRF?end=1980&locations=IN&start=1979 |website=[[World Bank]] |year=1980 |accessdate=11 December 2018}}</ref> It reached silver jubilee status after running in theaters across India for 25{{nbsp}}weeks continuously.<ref name="Salazkina"/>

In the [[Soviet Union]], it was the fifth top-grossing domestic film of 1980, and the 32nd [[List of Soviet films of the year by ticket sales|highest-grossing domestic film]] of all time, with 52.8{{nbsp}}million box office admissions.<ref name="Kudryavtsev">{{cite web|url=http://kinanet.livejournal.com/14172.html|title=Отечественные фильмы в советском кинопрокате|author=Sergey Kudryavtsev|author-link=Sergey Kudryavtsev (film critic)|date=4 July 2006}}</ref> This was equivalent to approximately {{#expr:52.8/(100/25)}}{{nbsp}}million [[Soviet ruble|руб]]<ref name="moscow7">[https://is.muni.cz/el/1421/podzim2015/FAV291/um/Roth-Ey-Moscow_Prime_Time.pdf#page=7 ''Moscow Prime Time: How the Soviet Union Built the Media Empire that Lost the Cultural Cold War'', page 48], [[Cornell University Press]], 2011</ref> ({{US$|{{#expr:13.2/(64.4/100) round 2}} million|long=no}},<ref name="russia">{{cite web|title=Archive|url=http://cbr.ru/currency_base/OldDataFiles/USD.xls|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229074625/http://cbr.ru/currency_base/OldDataFiles/USD.xls|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 December 2009|website=[[Central Bank of Russia]]|year=1972|accessdate=29 December 2009}}</ref> {{INR|{{#expr:20.5*7.86 round 2}} million}}).<ref name="inr80"/> Worldwide, the film grossed {{US$|{{#expr:7.63+20.5}} million|long=no}} ({{INR|{{#expr:60+161.13}} million}}). This is equivalent to {{US$|{{Inflation|US|28.134|1980}} million|long=no}} ({{INR|{{#expr:84*(1000/{{To USD|1000|IND}})/1000 round 3}} billion}}) adjusted for inflation in 2017.

In terms of footfalls, the film sold an estimated {{#expr:60/(2.49*0.72+4.03*0.28) round 0}}{{nbsp}}million tickets in India,<ref name="boi80"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mittal |first1=Ashok |title=Cinema Industry in India: Pricing and Taxation |date=1995 |publisher=Indus Publishing |isbn=9788173870231 |pages=71 & 77 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RJVodLc6NgoC&pg=PA77}}</ref> and 52.8{{nbsp}}million tickets in the Soviet Union,<ref name="Kudryavtsev"/> for an estimated total of {{#expr:21+52.8 round 0}}{{nbsp}}million tickets sold worldwide.

== Awards ==
The film wons awards at several film festivals, including the [[All-Union Film Festival]] in 1980,<ref>КИНО: Энциклопедический словарь, главный редактор С. И. Юткевич, М. Советская энциклопедия, 1987, с.83</ref> the [[Dushanbe]] Film Festival in 1980,<ref name="nashfilm"/> and the Grand Prix at the [[Belgrade Film Festival]] in 1981.<ref name="Salazkina"/><ref name="nashfilm"/>

== See also ==
*''[[Ajooba]]''
*[[List of highest-grossing Indian films in overseas markets]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{IMDb title|0079749}}

{{Ali Baba}}

[[Category:1980 films]]
[[Category:Films based on Ali Baba]]
[[Category:1980s Hindi-language films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:Indian fantasy adventure films]]
[[Category:Indian action adventure films]]
[[Category:1980s fantasy adventure films]]
[[Category:Soviet films]]
[[Category:Soviet action films]]
[[Category:Soviet adventure films]]
[[Category:India–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Films scored by R. D. Burman]]
[[Category:Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Indian multilingual films]]
[[Category:Hindi-language films]]
[[Category:Soviet multilingual films]]
[[Category:Films set in Asia]]
[[Category:Indian fantasy action films]]
[[Category:1980s multilingual films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Umesh Mehra]]
[[Category:Films shot in Uzbekistan]]
[[Category:Films set in Samarkand]]

Adventures of Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves - Revision history

>Rodw at 18:42, 4 June 2021