Sunil Tani: cleaned up citations and fixed typos for clarity

2026-03-04T00:01:17Z

cleaned up citations and fixed typos for clarity

imported>Yamaguchi先生: Reverted edits by 103.98.37.88 (talk) to last version by Shivansh Rana

2021-08-04T17:37:57Z

Reverted edits by 103.98.37.88 (talk) to last version by Shivansh Rana

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{{short description|1985 film by Raj Kapoor}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Ram Teri Ganga Maili
| image = Ram Teri Ganga Maili.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Raj Kapoor]]
| producer = [[Randhir Kapoor]]
| writer = Raj Kapoor<br />V. P. Sathe<br />K. K. Singh<br />Jyoti Swaroop
| screenplay =
| story =
| based_on =
| starring = [[Mandakini (actress)|Mandakini]]<br /> [[Rajiv Kapoor]]
| narrator =
| music = [[Ravindra Jain]]
| cinematography = Radhu Karmakar
| editing = Raj Kapoor
| studio =
| distributor = R. K. Films
| released = {{film date|1985|08|16|df=yes}}
| runtime = 178 minutes
| country = India
| language = Hindi
| budget =
| gross = ₹19 crore (equivalent to ₹326 crore (US$46 million) in 2016)
}}
'''''Ram Teri Ganga Maili''''' ({{translation|Ram, Your Ganga is Tainted}}) is a 1985 Indian [[Hindi]]-language [[romantic drama film]] directed by [[Raj Kapoor]]. The film stars [[Mandakini (actress)|Mandakini]] and [[Rajiv Kapoor]]. Music director [[Ravindra Jain]] received a Filmfare Award for this film.

The film became very controversial because of Mandakini's bold scenes of [[breastfeeding]] and [[Wet sari scene|bathing in a transparent saree]], which wasn't something the conservative [[Indian Film Censor Board|Indian Censor Board]] allowed then. Yet, it had a U (Universal) age rating, which was later amended to U/A. It was the last film directed by Raj Kapoor.

''Ram Teri Ganga Maili'' is included in the 'All-Time Blockbusters' list of Indian Cinema. It was certified Diamond Jubilee in Mumbai and Golden Jubilee in other major cities.The film was the [[List of Bollywood films of 1985|year's highest-grossing film.]] It was also one of the highest-grossing films of 1980s, alongside ''[[Kranti]]'' (1981) and ''[[Maine Pyar Kiya]]'' (1989).<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-10-14|title=Boxofficeindia.com|url=http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=125&catName=MTk4MC0xOTg5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014093336/http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=125&catName=MTk4MC0xOTg5|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-10-14|access-date=2020-08-07}}</ref>

==Plot==
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 paternal grandmother, who uses a wheelchair. 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 can, she starts her journey to Alipore, 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 a 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 is asked to perform on her husband's wedding. It creates a scene when Naren recognises that the girl dancing in the veil is none other than Ganga. He stops the marriage saying that he is already married but his family asks him to marry Radha and not that "polluted" girl. However, he disagrees and leaves his house with Ganga and his child.

==Cast==
* [[Rajiv Kapoor]] as Narendra "Naren" Sahay
* [[Mandakini (actress)|Mandakini]] as Ganga
* [[Divya Rana]] as Radha B. Choudhary
* [[Sushma Seth]] as Dadimaa
* [[Saeed Jaffrey]] as Kunj Bihari
* [[Kulbhushan Kharbanda]] as Jeeva Sahay
* [[Raza Murad]] as Bhagwat Choudhary
* [[Geeta Siddharth]] as Mrs. Sahay
* [[Trilok Kapoor]] as Professor
* [[Krishan Dhawan]] as Manilal
* [[Vishwa Mehra]] as Postbabu
* [[Urmila Bhatt]] as Tajeshwaribai
* [[A.K. Hangal]] as Brij Kishore
* [[Gautam Sarin]] as Naren's fellow student
* [[Monty Nath]] as Naren's fellow student who lost his watch
* [[Kamaldeep]] as Chamanlal
* [[Tom Alter]] as Karam Singh (Ganga's elder brother)

==Cultural allusions==
According to [[Philip Lutgendorf]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uiowa.edu/~incinema/RamTeriGM.html |title=Ram teri Ganga Maili |publisher=University of Iowa, South Asian Studies Program |author=Philip Lutgendorf |access-date=19 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111228010453/http://www.uiowa.edu/~incinema/RamTeriGM.html |archive-date=28 December 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> 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 [[Ganga action plan|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]]."

The final song sequence "Ek Radha ek Meera" brings Raj Kapoor'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.

The movie was a hit, and it earned Mandakini a [[Filmfare]] nomination as Best Actress.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://deep750.googlepages.com/FilmfareAwards.pdf |title=Filmfare Awards |access-date=14 September 2008 |page=71}}</ref> 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 defended the inclusion of the scenes stating that they were tasteful.

==Awards==
The film won five [[Filmfare Awards]].
* [[Filmfare Award for Best Movie|Best Film]]
* [[Filmfare Award for Best Art Direction|Best Art Director]] – Suresh Sawant
* [[Filmfare Award for Best Director|Best Director]] – [[Raj Kapoor]]
* [[Filmfare Award for Best Editing|Best Editor]] – Raj Kapoor<ref>{{cite web |title=Best Editor Award| url = http://recipeguide.indiatimes.com/awards2001/ex_editor.htm |publisher=Official Listings, [[Indiatimes]] | access-date = 29 April 2014 }}</ref>
* [[Filmfare Award for Best Music Director|Best Music Director]] – [[Ravindra Jain]]

==Songs==
Music of this movie was given by late [[Ravindra Jain]], who won Fimfare Award for Best Music Director for this.
# "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 Pyaar Ki Dhun Maine Tujhe Chun Liya" – 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==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0152139}}

{{FilmfareAwardBestFilm 1971–1990}}
{{Raj Kapoor}}

[[Category:1985 films]]
[[Category:1980s Hindi-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Raj Kapoor]]
[[Category:Films set in Kolkata]]
[[Category:R. K. Films films]]
[[Category:Indian erotic drama films]]
[[Category:1980s erotic drama films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ravindra Jain]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:1985 drama films]]

Ram Teri Ganga Maili - Revision history

Sunil Tani: cleaned up citations and fixed typos for clarity

imported>Yamaguchi先生: Reverted edits by 103.98.37.88 (talk) to last version by Shivansh Rana