Ram Teri Ganga Maili

Plot synopsis:
Ganga lives in Gangotri with her brother, Karam. One day she comes to the assistance of a young man, Narendra Sahay, who has come with a group of Calcutta-based college students to study the source of the holy river Ganga, and to get some holy water for his wheelchair-bound paternal grandmother. Both are attracted to each other, and on the next Puran Mashi get married, and spend the night together. Narendra leaves, but promises Ganga that he will be back soon. Months go by, but he does not return. She gives birth to a son, and as soon as she is able to, she starts her journey to Alipor, Calcutta, to confront Narendra and ensure a better future for their son. At Rishikesh she is exploited by two women and a man from whom she escapes and takes shelter in a crematorium. Then at Banaras, she is molested by a Pandit, rescued by the police and given a ticket to Calcutta. When she alights en route to get water for her baby, the train leaves, and she falls into the clutches of Manilal who feigns blindness and lures her to a brothel near Banaras, where she is forced to stay so that she can provide for her son. It is here that she is introduced to powerful politician, Bhagwat Choudhary, who pays a hefty sum and asks Manilal to bring Ganga to Calcutta where he intends to keep her as his and Jeeva Sahay's mistress. What Ganga does not know is that Bhagwat's daughter, Radha, is Narendra's bride-to-be; that Jeeva is none other than Narendra's father, and that soon she will be asked to dance at his wedding reception.

Tags: allegory, romantic

Review:
Raj Kapoor at his best.
Naren is a simple man and son of an influential businessman in Calcutta.
He goes to Himalayas on vacations and meets Ganga a local Himalayan girl.
They fall in love and get married.
Naren decides to go home and gain his family's confidence before he can take Ganga home.
Naren comes back home and finds that his father has fixed his marriage with an ambitious politician Bhagwat Chowdhary's daughter.
Naren sends Kunj, his maternal uncle and his well wisher, to fetch Ganga but Ganga, now pregnant, has already left alone from Himalayas to Calcutta.
The whole journey of Ganga from Gangotri to Calcutta depicts the poor condition of women in the Indian society.
First half of the film is perfect for toilet breaks, cigarette, pop corn and probably grocery.
How long can you tolerate two bad actors that too together?
Movie begins when Ganga leaves Himalayas for Calcutta.
Ganga, traveling from Gangotri to Calcutta, represents river Ganga which starts from Himalayas and through northern plains reaches Calcutta and merges into Bay of Bengal.
River Ganga is revered by Indians as god from ancient times.
River Ganga get polluted on its way and the first bank which pollutes river Ganga is Haridwar and so Ganga (Mandakini) tastes her stint with fate in Haridwar.
By the time she reaches Varanasi Ganga loses its purity.
River Ganga flows almost like sewer water after that and that's what happens to the protagonist.
She is sold bought raped and beaten by the time she reaches Calcutta.
I find this film extremely romantic and spiritual.
It talks about the fate of millions of innocent girls sold in India and the medium it uses is mind blowing.
This film always reminds me of Bicycle thief.
Sica used a bicycle to expose post world war Italy and Raj Kapoor has used a river to expose the double standards of Indian culture.
At one point in time Ganga sleeps in a funeral house and consoles herself saying that dead ones are better than those living.
Characterization is brilliant for example Kunj visits brothels but he loud mouths about it.
Manilal is a pimp, a gray character, becomes a blind man to trap Ganga.
Raj Kapoor says a lot through Manilal's black goggles.
Some of the scenes are very bold.
In one of the scenes Ganga, in a train to Varanasi, is feeding her infant son while men look at each other and smile.
Acting wise Raza Murad and Saeed Jaffery are brilliant and soul of the film.
Rajiv Kapoor couldn't do worse.
'Mandagini' could and she did.
Music of the film is exceptional.
All the songs except for 'Sun Saiba' and 'Main Hee Main Hoon' are beautiful and meaningful.
I think it's the best score by 'Ravindra Jain' so far (better than even 'Nadiya Ke Paar' and 'Chitchor').
Lata Mangeshkar's voice is beginning to crack by this time and so male versions are an automatic preference.
This film was released in the same year as 'Tawaif' and so best Dialog and story awards were given to 'Tawaif' ( a very well deserved ones too) else this movie would have got those too other than best film, best director, best art director and best music.
I think this is Raj Kapoor's best film if not 'Prem Rog'.
Prem Rog outshines this film because of the actors (of course Rishi Kapoor in 35 mm is magic) and topic but RTGM has high points and is more dramatic.
I think Raj Kapoor should have stayed away from the nudity in this film as most people saw only nudity in this film (you can tell by the reviews only) but Raj Kapoor was a businessman too so he had to do his marketing bit.
This film was a huge hit.
Looking at the unchanged condition of India I guess Raj Kapoor was a good seller.
He sold a movie against nudity with nudity.
Reminds me of Goddard's 'Contempt' but that's how it is and will be.
A must watch for spiritually bent Indians..
Analogy drawn.
Undoubtedly one of the finest films made by the original and only Showman Raj Kapoor.
Clearly the showman has adapted to changing times and yet manages to captivate the audience interest with his master story telling skill.The showman has moved a level up since Mera Naam Joker and his subsequent movies like Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Prem Rog and RTGM (with an expectation of Bobby) clearly depict the subtle message encoded.
You would require more than one viewing in order to see understand the underlying message of how the purity of the river Ganges originating from Himalayas gets compromised as it travels through the strata's of the society until its finally reaches Kolkatta.The dialogues are very powerful and thought provoking (Saeed Jaffery gets meaty ones!!!).
Songs which are the highlight of every Raj Kapoor movies do not disappoint.
Moving away from L-P, he first time he teams with Ravindra Jain (music & lyrics) churning songs which will be remembered for years.
Lata gives her as usual her best for the showman.In terms of the casting Mandakini is an absolute let-down.
She is the main protagonist and any other actress with the potency of parallel cinema would have had this movie recognised on international levels.
Rajeev Kapoor is no great shakes either.
Its only the supporting cast which halo the short-comings of the lead performers and they are Saeed Jaffery, Raza Murad, Sushma Seth, Khulbushan Kharbanda, Krishan Dhawan and Rajesh Viveck (in a blink-and-miss role).The visuals of the beauty and serenity of Himalayas and the dirty and murky Kolkatta is captured with equal aplomb.Sadly the last movie from the greatest showman but definitely he left his mark with this movie.After reading Mr. Murali-s comments I decided to write my own opinions on this movie as the former one is extremely shallow..
All pomp and no glory!.
Raj Kapoor is supposed to be the ultimate showman of Bollywood.
He does some justice to this image by choosing spectacular locales along with some great music and photography.
However, there is nothing new this movie offers.
It's an unconvincing love story set right at the foot of Himalayas, between a rich guy and a poor girl.
How they meet, get separated and finally get united in the end forms the core of the story.Most of the Indians would remember this movie as the first one, at least the first blockbuster, where the heroine openly bares her breasts.
(Such exposure is not very common in Indian movies.)Apart from that dubious distinction, there is not much else.The music is a blast and worth listening to.
Give the movie itself a skip..
If you are an Indian, then go on youtube and watch the movie now.
It's a very emotional story of Ganga...from gangotri to the sangam.
This movie relates the story of a Girl to the holy river Ganga.
I think that it is difficult for Non-Indians to relate with movie but Indians must watch it.The power of the movie lies in it's story and emotions.
Kudos to the Showman.
Mandakini (ganga) has also done a great work.
But there was no need of nudity in such a movie.
If it was not there, then more people would've watched this movie.The movie is also reflects the black side of the Politics in India that contains people who just look for the benefit of their family.
They have nothing to do with the Country.
But their real face never comes in front of public.
It's a;so a true love story that shows that love is not the name of getting someone in your life, it is the sacrifice for the happiness of your loved ones.Please watch this movie if you are an adult and an Indian..
Loved Mandakini for the Right reasons.
Mandakini Mandakini Mandakini.
That's why the film gets a 9 for me.
The Movie is a bit nice yet a bit silly.
Raj Kapoor directed this film well and did a fab job.
The Lead Actor tries his best but some people just don't suit as a actor.Best thing about this film is the introduction of the beauty cutie pie Mandakini.
Its a shame she did not get more famous in Bollywood as she deserved.
She was good in this movie, well acted, I felt sorry for her character but I cannot deny she was sexy at the same time.The wet sari nude scene and breast feeding scene caused a stir but most men did not complain as deep down they just watched it over and over again secretly.
As you can see from my header, loved her for the right reasons, ahem.
yes I am not modest.
Getting jiggy with it..
Same old..
Typical bollywood love story.
Girl meets guy, meet the parents, there's trouble, a bad patch, the struggle, the heroism and then a happy ending, oh and not to forget the dancing and singing.The nudity side of things was simple and did'n'y need to be in the film.
there are certain situations where you can understand why it is needed but in this case they could have done the standard skin tight sari's and clothes and still got away with it.Nudity in films is not a big issue these days...well, in Hollywood, but bollywood, film makers need to be abit careful on their target audience.
the younger generation would have an open mind and will be more susceptible to this but the older and the majority of the target audience for bollwood films would not be.I personally don't mind the nudity.
a movie ahead of its time...in terms of sex in Indian cinema.
this movie could be called a typical Indian love story...rich boy poor girl, cannot marry!
but at the time of the release created a lot of controversy simply because of the sexual content in the movie.simple acts such as a mother breast feeding her baby were frowned upon which showed that the Indian public was not ready for such boldness just yet.
in another scene the lead actress was shown bathing under a waterfall...in a flimsy white sari and nothing underneath.
this was typical of the director Raj Kapoor who wanted his actresses to look glamorous i.e. sex symbols.I will not take anything away from the movie in terms of acting as every one did a superb job..
A grand epic - Raj Kapoor style......
What looks like a standard rich boy, poor girl love story with the basic formula of boy meets girl, they fall in love and have to face several hurdles before being reunited is actually much much more.
The movie itself contains an important social message about faith, hypocrisy and the distortion of religion for personal gains.
Bold for its time.
Raj Kapoor introduces newcomer Mandakini in an extremely powerful heroine oriented role, causing controversy with the now infamous waterfall scene where her breasts were visible, through a flimsy white sari.
The story follows the journey of Ganga, a girl from Gangotri (the source of the Ganges),who starts out as pure as the Ganges itself, and as the events unfold She follows the course of the Ganges and reaches Calcutta tainted just like the sacred Ganges.
The performances on the whole are excellent.
Raj Kapoor extracts some fine acting from all the star cast, even his son Rajiv who shines despite his limitation.
The way the dramatic scenes are executed are sheer brilliance, and you are kept almost at the edge of your seat.
Raza Murad stands out as the most memorable character and plays his part with utter conviction.
The soundtrack is also worth mentioning as the beautiful music by Ravidra Jain, with voice's of the legendary Lata Mangeshkar and Suresh Wadkar is simply sublime with its mix of classical and modern film music.
The cinematography for a Hindi film of its time really stands out (especially the songs) in and era where films were rather technically poor in India.
The only low I would have to say is the ending.
We reach the pivotal climax beautifully executed.
What follows is a quick lets get over with this and finish the film with the usual commotion, fighting and over dramatisation.
The ending is rather abrupt and you are left with a feeling that the story has not been fully resolved.What stops this film from being one the greatest stories ever told is the inclusion of certain unnecessary scenes which make the first half less gripping than it could have been..
Certain plot lines such as the Murder of Ganga's brother are left uncompleted.
The fight scene where Ganaga is accused of theft is not necessary and just seems to prolong the story.All in all a great film that could have possibly been even greater.
do watch it if you can get hold of it on DVD..
The Showman's triumph.
Raj Kapoor again directs a great film.
The story starts with the the boy meets girl syndrome(Naren, played by Rajiv Kapoor meets Gunga, played by Mandakini).They start loving each other and get married.
But when Naren goes back home, he finds that his marriage has been fixed to another girl.
Kunj, his maternal uncle goes to fetch Ganga, but they had already left for Calcutta with a son.
The film draws an analogy between the protagonist "Ganga" and the river Ganga.
Ganges starts from Gangotri and merges in the Bay of Bengal, it is pure in the starting, but becomes polluted during its way.
The protagonist is the living embodiment of the river.
Along the way, she is trafficked, raped and beaten.
By the time she reaches Kolkata, her purity had gone, just like the Ganges.
This movie seemed to be contrast to his 1962 classic "Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai".
That film boasted about the country and the Ganges and optimistic in tone.
While RTGM denounces the evils present in the country and raises its voice against it.
The music of the film is quite good, especially the title song.But the film takes a beating at acting.
Mandakini is average while Rajiv Kapoor is just plain bad, he can't convey emotions properly.(Quite strangely, the movie is (in)famous for the nude scene.
Do watch it.
You won't be disappointed.)