Boxer (/ˈbɒk.sər/) is a 1984 Indian bilingual sports action film directed by Raj N. Sippy. Simultaneously shot in Bengali and Hindi-languages, the film is produced by Gautam Guha under the banner of Shri Sai Shakti. It stars Mithun Chakraborty, Rati Agnihotri, Danny Denzongpa, Tanuja and Sharat Saxena. In the film, Shankar Ghoshal (Chakraborty), son of a retired boxer, trains under a manager while serving an unjust prison sentence, in order to challenge the reigning champion Raghu Raj (Saxena).
In spite of its basic storyline being inspired by John G. Avildsen's 1976 film Rocky, it also borrows partial basis from Moti Nandi's novel Shiba. Music of the film is composed by R. D. Burman. The film was a box-office success, grossing over ₹6 crore against a total budget of ₹2 crore, and also gained a cult following over the years.
Contents
Plot
Dharma works as a boxer with Kashmir Silk Mills. The managing director is very pleased with him, and assures him that if he will win the next boxing bout against Shera, he will be sent to London. Unfortunately, Dharma loses the bout, he is grievously injured, unable to box anymore, and shortly thereafter, he is fired from his job. Thereafter an embittered Dharma takes to drinking alcohol in a big way, ignoring his pregnant wife, Savitri, & young son, Shankar. Things get worse when Savitri gives birth to a second baby boy, Sonu. Then in order to make ends meet, Shankar takes to stealing, and hiding from the law. Years later, Shankar, now a career criminal, is arrested for stealing a watch from a man coming out of a jewellery store, he is tried in court and sentenced to jail for 6 months. In prison, he meets with boxing manager, Tony Braganza, and after his release, he starts to train with him and eventually challenges the reigning Champion Raghu Raj.
Cast
Mithun Chakraborty as Shankar Ghoshal, Dharma and Savitri's son
Rati Agnihotri as Rajni
Danny Denzongpa as Dharma, Shankar and Sonu's father
Tanuja as Savitri, Shankar and Sonu's mother
Parikshit Sahni as Tony Braganza, Boxing Trainee
Sujit Kumar as Inspector Khatau, Rajni's father
Naaz as Mrs. Khatau, Rajni's mother
Iftekhar as Rushie, who is provoked for killing Shankar to Raghuraj
Sudhir as Gafoor
Sharat Saxena as Raghuraj, Boxer
Raju Shrestha as Young Shankar
Yusuf Khan as Jail Inmate Rival of Shankar
Gurbacharan Singh
Azaad Irani
Jagdish Raj
Master Nadeem as Sonu Dharma
Baby Pinky
Shekhar Purohit
Bob Christo
Sunder Taneja
Vikas Sahane
Music
The music was composed by Rahul Dev Burman with lyrics by Gulshan Bawra and the song "Hai Mubarak Aaj Ka Din" was a chartbuster.