Flashback
Gola Barood literally means ammunition. The director David Dhawan ensured the plot of the 1989 released movie with a strong working title was equally done justice with. Together with Anwar Khan and PD Mehra, the dialogue and screenplay were penned to make it a successful multi-starrer, commercial potboiler. The end result at the box office naturally appealed to the masses. Starring yesteryear greats like Shatrughan Sinha and Kimi Katkar and then young sensations Chunkey Pandey and Sonam, the movie had a strong ensemble of veteran supporting actors too, lending to the narrative. Tata LP 1210 E painted in a bright shade of metallic blue joined the star cast in a heavyweight cameo. Playing its part with aplomb, the latter held its own in a well-crafted action chase sequence, leaving a lasting impression.
An honest truck driver, Shambhu, played by Sinha, is on the steering wheel of the Tata LP 1210 E loaded with drugs. He has the cops on his tail. To prove his loyalty to Davar, played by late national award holder Sadashiv Dattaray Amrapurkar, Shambhu took up the tricky task deemed as mission impossible. He vows to free Davar’s consignment held captive by the cops at a warehouse in Vashi. To free the consignment valued at five crores, Shambhu doles out one trick after the other to skillfully manoeuvre the CV out of the heavily guarded warehouse. He takes the highway where the chase continues but the cops fail to close upon him. Shambhu lives up to his promise and safely reaches the truckload to an elated Davar. In return, Davar inducts him as a loyalist in his team.
The Tata LP 1210 E that Shambhu drove has been a popular mainstay for Tata Motors. Offered in cowl form, operators preferred to have local bodybuilders build a wooden and iron rigid body over it as seen in the rushes. Inheriting parts commonality from the semi-forward control 1210 SE, the truck drew power from a 4.6-litre OM 312, six-cylinder diesel engine. Rated for a peak power of 90 hp at 2800 rpm and a peak torque of 277 Nm at 1400-1600 rpm, the engine was mated to a five-speed transmission. Brakes on the truck were of hydraulic assist type with a single chamber air pressure booster. Suspension on the truck was made up of semi-elliptic, silicon-manganese leaf springs coupled with hydraulic dampers. The front suspension constituted of 12 leaves with the rear known to feature wider and thicker 10 main leaves and seven auxiliary leaves.
