Ram Teri Ganga Maili
4.4 /10 25 Votes
33% Genre Drama, Musical, Romance Country India | 6.7/10 Release date July 25, 1985 (India) Duration Language Hindi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Release date 25 July 1985 Writer Raj Kapoor (story), V.P. Sathe (screenplay), K.K. Singh (dialogue), K.K. Singh (screenplay), Jyoti Swaroop (screenplay) Songs Ek Dukhiyari Kahe Cast (Kunj Bihari (as Saeed Jaffry)), (Radha B. Choudhary), (Jeeva Sahay), (Narendra "Naren" Sahay) Similar Bobby (1973 film), Prem Rog, Henna (film) |
Ram Teri Ganga Maili (literal translation: Ram, Your Ganga's Become Impure) is a 1985 Bollywood film directed by actor-director Raj Kapoor. The movie stars Mandakini and Rajiv Kapoor, son of Raj Kapoor. It was Raj Kapoor's last film. The film became a "Blockbuster" at the box office and went on to be the highest grossing Hindi film of 1985. The music director Ravindra Jain received a Filmfare Award for this film. The storyline of the film is somewhat similar to Pakeezah. The film became very controversial because of Mandakini's bold scenes of breastfeeding and bathing in a transparent saree, which wasn't something the conservative Indian Censor Board allowed at that point in time.
Contents
![In the movie scene of Ram Teri Ganga Maili 1985, on the top Mandakini is serious, her lips kissing Rajiv Kapoor’s nose, has long black hair, wearing a brown cloth over her hair, big silver earrings, necklace, a purple and brown long sleeve, next to her is Rajiv Kapoor, serious, eyes closed, has black hair wearing a brown cap with white and brown feather brush and a brown jacket, at the bottom Mandakini is smiling, has black hair brown eyes wearing a nose piercing, silver earrings, necklace, red checkered cloth over her head and gray top, on the left is the movie title Ram Teri Ganga Maili in yellow color font,](https://alchetron.com/cdn/ram-teri-ganga-maili-8aa8c08c-ca81-4c8f-8cfb-34e7ffbd471-resize-750.jpeg)
Plot
![In the movie scene of Ram Teri Ganga Maili 1985, Mandakini is smiling, standing in the middle with a river behind her, posing with her right hand up behind her head, has black hair brown eyes wearing a nose piercing, gold earrings, gold necklace, gold bracelets on her right hand, red cloth over her head and red checkered long sleeve dress.](https://alchetron.com/cdn/ram-teri-ganga-maili-a19f6fcd-6bae-4a42-aea0-187a600c5d6-resize-750.jpeg)
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.
Cast
![In the movie scene of Ram Teri Ganga Maili 1985, on the left Mandakini is serious, her lips touching Rajiv Kapoor’s nose while her right hand on top of his shoulder, has long black hair, wearing a brown cloth over her hair, big silver earrings, necklace, silver bracelets, and a purple long sleeve, next to her is Rajiv Kapoor, serious, eyes looking at Mandakini’s eyes, has black hair wearing a brown cap with white and brown feather brush and a brown jacket. In the middle Rajiv Kapoor (left) is serious, lying on the bed with Mandakini (right) his hand on top of Mandakini and head on her breast, naked, has black hair, in his right is Mandakini is serious, lying on the bed covered in black bedsheet naked, right arm at the back and hands on the shoulder, has black hair, wearing an Indian accessory on her forehead. On the bottom right, Mandakini is worried, sitting while her left arm carrying the baby in a white cloth, her right arm over the cheek of the baby, has black hair wearing a cleavage showing long sleeve printed dress, a brown and orange beads necklace and a red one along with a silver bracelet. with the movie title Ram Teri Ganga Maili in yellow font color.](https://alchetron.com/cdn/ram-teri-ganga-maili-9d77b4b6-25b4-42f0-9243-5a8a47a01d6-resize-750.jpeg)
Cultural allusions
According to Philip Lutgendorf, the movie is an allegory that "synthesizes classical and mythic narrative, soft-core political and social commentary (here condemning the corruption of politicians and capitalists and championing the nascent environmental initiatives of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi). The narrative recapitulates the Abhijñānaśākuntalam story that first appeared in the epic Mahabharata and then was reworked, some six hundred years later, by the poet Kalidasa."
![In the movie scene of Ram Teri Ganga Maili 1985, on the left Mandakini is serious, her lips touching Rajiv Kapoor’s nose while her right hand is on top of his shoulder, has long black hair, wearing a brown cloth over her hair, big silver earrings, necklace, silver bracelets, and a purple long sleeve, next to her is Rajiv Kapoor, serious, eyes looking at Mandakini’s eyes, has black hair wearing a brown cap with white and brown feather brush and a brown jacket, at the right Mandakini is happy, mouth half open, with her both hands up and palm up, has black hair tied up, wearing nose piercing, and a white wet Saree that can see through her breast, and shorts.](https://alchetron.com/cdn/ram-teri-ganga-maili-4f8cba15-acb9-4b04-a028-f8a2ac5616b-resize-750.jpeg)
The final song sequence "Ek Radha ek Meera" brings Raj Kappor's personal experiences with filmdom and reality. This song sequence is the climax of the plot where the bride-to-be is face-to-face with the other "saut", the culturally "polluted" dancer who has made that journey from the pure source of the Himalayas to the ever-flowing and ever-absorbing Ganges with all of the human impurities. It also differentiates between the love of Radha and Meera and reconnects the movie back to the Krishna Leelas.
![In the movie scene of Ram Teri Ganga Maili 1985, Mandakini is serious, standing in the middle with Indian architecture buildings behind her, has black hair and a bindi on her forehead, wearing a maang tikka on her forehead, long gold earrings, gold necklace, red and gold bracelets, rings on her right hand, and a red dress.](https://alchetron.com/cdn/ram-teri-ganga-maili-9dd80fb4-637b-4a93-8a16-dbc5558fcbe-resize-750.jpg)
The movie was a hit, and it earned Mandakini a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. The film also caused a stir because of two scenes: one in which Mandakini bathes under a waterfall wearing only a flimsy white saree through which her breasts are clearly visible and another in which she is shown breast-feeding a child. Some critics claimed that the scenes were vulgar and exploitative, and were used to get around the Censor Board's stringent rules against nudity. Kapoor, as usual, defended the inclusion of the scenes stating that they were tasteful.
Awards
![In the movie scene of Ram Teri Ganga Maili 1985, Mandakini is smiling, standing in the middle with leaves in front and a river behind her, right hand under her right jaw, has black hair, brown eyes, wearing a nose piercing, gold earrings, gold ring, necklace, gold bracelets in her right hand, red cloth over her head and red long sleeve dress with white dots.](https://alchetron.com/cdn/ram-teri-ganga-maili-a3f9a3c9-c595-48d7-8faa-1d67c421f67-resize-750.jpg)
The film won five Filmfare Awards.
Songs
Audio: HMV, Music and Lyrics: Ravindra Jain, except 5 and 9
- "Ek Dukhiyari Kahe" - Lata Mangeshkar
- "Ek Radha Ek Meera" - Lata Mangeshkar
- "Husn Pahadon Ka" - Lata Mangeshkar, Suresh Wadkar
- "Ram Teri Ganga Maili Ho Gayee - Part 1" - Suresh Wadkar
- "Sun Sahiba Sun" - Lata Mangeshkar; Lyrics - Hasrat Jaipuri
- "Tujhe Bulayen Yeh Meri Bahen" - Lata Mangeshkar
- "Yaara O Yaara" - Lata Mangeshkar, Suresh Wadkar
- "Ram Teri Ganga Maili Ho Gayee - Part 2" - Suresh Wadkar
- "Main Hi Main Hoon -Suresh Wadkar; Lyrics - Amir Qazalbash
References
Ram Teri Ganga Maili WikipediaRam Teri Ganga Maili IMDbRam Teri Ganga Maili Rotten TomatoesRam Teri Ganga Maili themoviedb.org