Gunga Jumna

<p>Widowed Govindi ( ) lives a poor lifestyle in Haripur along with two sons, Gungaram and Jumna. Ganga spends his days working with his mother as a servant in the home of the zamindar’s obnoxious family while Jumna, a promising student, focuses on his schoolwork. While Jumna is studious, Gungaram is the opposite, but has a good heart and decides to use his earnings to ensure his brother gets a decent education. After her employer, Hariram, falsely accuses Govindi of theft, their house is searched, evidence is found and she is arrested. The entire village bails her out but the shock kills her. After their mother passes away, Ganga pledges to support his younger brother as they grow to adulthood. The adult Ganga ( ) is a spirited and hardworking fellow, unafraid to take on the zamindar when necessary, while his brother Jumna ( ) is more measured and cautious. Ganga sends Jumna to the city to study, and supports him with funds that he earns driving an oxcart and making deliveries for the zamindar. But things get complicated when Ganga saves a local girl, Dhanno ( ), from the zamindar’s lecherous assault. The zamindar ( ) gets his revenge by trumping up a robbery charge against Ganga, landing him in prison. Upon his release, Ganga learns that his brother has become destitute and attacks and robs the zamindar in a rage. Soon Ganga finds himself an outlaw, and, with Dhanno at his side, he joins a gang of bandits camping out in the wilderness. In the meantime, Jumna meets a fatherly police officer ( ) and becomes a police officer himself. It isn’t long before Jumna’s professional wanderings take him back to the village of his birth, where he must square off against his outlaw brother in a showdown between duty and family. The film was loosely inspired by ‘s (1957). In later interviews, said that he ghost-directed the film, as well as editing. The film stars real-life brothers Dilip Kumar (real name Muhammad Yusuf Khan) and in the roles of the brothers Ganga and Jamna, respectively. Movie was shot in various villages including Nandur Vaidya, Wadivarhe, and others. The plot of film is set in Haripur of , although actual shooting was held at in Nashik. Captivating Kabaddi match played in the movie also refers to the city of , which plays against the team of Ganga and gets defeated by the protagonist. Also , gograghat, bastar, gonda and several areas of North India are mentioned by characters or appear in various scenes of the movie. The soundtrack for the movie was composed by and the lyrics were penned by . The soundtrack consists of 8 songs, featuring vocals by , , and . In 2011, ranked at #1 in their list of Top 10 songs in for . in the soundtrack) The film has received widespread critical acclaim in India as well as overseas. Karan Bali from Upperstall.com, described it as a “well-structured and briskly paced film” adding that “notable of the use of [ ] dialect, which helps make the film refreshingly real and gives it a proper locale and geography”. from called the film “What is also moving about Ganga Jamuna is its tragic irony […] Of all the conundrums of human relationships that Ganga Jamuna explores, the most affecting is the one between Ganga and Dhanno — an extraordinary love story between two ordinary people, handled with great thought and charm […] Director Nitin Bose frames some excellent shots even while keeping a tight rein on the narrative”. Deepak Mahan from said “Gunga Jumna is a classic entertainer at its best with a powerful story, outstanding performances and riveting music […] an eye-opener as to why good stories will always be the real “super stars” and why content must dictate the form rather than the other way round”. Gaurav Malani from gave it 3/5 stars and praised actor for his performance as Ganga. K. K. Rai from called the film “the story of two brothers on opposite sides of law repeated over and over again but never with so much power” and applauded for her portrayal of rustic village girl Dhanno where Rai said “Vyjayanthimala’s Dhanno won her the best actress trophy[..]She played the village woman with such simplicity and grace; you’d forget she was one of the most glamorous stars of her time. She also spoke the Bhojpuri dialect like a native”. The film also gained good response from overseas. from said that “By focusing its story and its audience’s sympathies on the brother who goes astray, however, the film invites a critical and pessimistic appraisal of the state’s ability to protect the underprivileged, and its tragic central character thus anticipates the “angry” proletarian heroes popularized by in the 1970s […] Linguistic coding is artfully used, with Gunga and Dhanno’s raucous arguments in colorful Bhojpuri [ ] dialect contrasted with Jumna’s carefully-measured pronouncements in Khari Boli or “high” Delhi speech. Rural life is also celebrated in exhuberant [ ] songs and dances […] The sweeping landscape of the Deccan, with its arid mesas and lush green valleys forms a gorgeous backdrop to many scenes”. On 26 November 2008, ranked the film as one of the best 1960s film in their “Landmark Film of 60s” list, adding that “Its massive success, not just in terms of business, but also vivid story-telling, endearing camaraderie, uncompromising technique as well as the concept of ideology at odds, has visibly influenced major motion pictures over the years, rural or contemporary backdrop, notwithstanding.”. In India, the film had a box office of 7 , with a of 3.5 crore, becoming the . IBOS Network gave its inflation-adjusted nett as 604.2 crore. magazine calculated its inflation-adjusted gross by comparing the collection with the price of in 1961, which gave it an adjusted gross of 736.4 crore in 2011, equivalent to ( 205 million) in 2016. The film completed its theatrical run at Minerva Cinema Hall, and completed run at . In 2011, the film was listed at number 2 by magazine behind and ahead of (1975) in their list of “Top 50 Film of Last 50 Years” which feature all-time by using the relative price of in different years to arrive at a hypothetical current value of box-office collections of past films. Overseas, the film was a success in the , where it released as Ганга и Джамна ( ) in 1965, drawing an audience of 32.1 million viewers that year. It came number 11 on the year’s , where it was the fourth highest Indian film, behind (number 4), (number 8) and (number 10). was one of the top 25 most successful Indian films in the Soviet Union. At an average Soviet ticket price of 25 in the mid-1960s, the film’s 32.1 million sold Soviet tickets grossed an estimated 8.03 million . retrospectively criticized the for snubbing Dilip Kumar from the , which was awarded to for (1961). described it as “a strange travesty of justice” that Kumar lost out the award, after delivering “a magnificent role of a lifetime.” is regarded as an important film in the history of . In 1995, this movie was telecast on TV Premier for Bangladesh Television on the occasion of a personal visit by Dilip Kumar and in . Its story of two brothers on opposing sides of the law became a dominant narrative motif in from the 1970s onwards. It was a trendsetter, inspiring films such as (1975), (1977) and (1978). It had a strong influence on screenwriter duo , who took inspiration from when they wrote the stories and scripts of films such as and . s most immediate successor was . Salim-Javed credited as the inspiration for , which they described as a “more urban, much more contemporary” take on its themes. was a defining example of the genre. It went on to inspire (1975), which combined the dacoit film conventions established by and with that of the genre. The villain ( ) is a dacoit speaking with a dialect inspired by Gunga, a mix of , and , and a scene depicting an attempted train robbery was also inspired by a similar scene in . Dilip Kumar’s performance as Ganga is considered one of the finest acting performances in the history of Indian cinema. According to : Dilip Kumar is the “super star” as he essays a character that blends rustic comedy, romance, tragedy and villainy in a magnificent role of a lifetime. The “Badshah of Acting” enacts each scene with such ease and finesse that you are left astounded by the sheer brilliance of his genius since his body movements and dialogue delivery change in tune with the development of the character and story. His performance in inspired future generations of actors, most notably , who was inspired by Dilip Kumar’s performance in this film. According to Bachchan, he learnt more about acting from than he did from any other film. Bachchan, who hails from , was particularly impressed by Kumar’s mastery of the , expressing awe and surprise as to how “a man who’s not from and Uttar Pradesh” could accurately express all the nuances of Awadhi. Bachchcan’s famous “angry young man” persona was modeled after Kumar’s performance as Gunga, with Bachchan’s “angry young man” being a sharpened version of Kumar’s intensity as Gunga. Bachchan adapted Kumar’s style and reinterpreted it in a contemporary urban context reflecting the changing socio-political climate of 1970s India.</p>