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Ram Teri Ganga Maili
Ram Teri Ganga Maili
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Raj Kapoor
Written by	Raj Kapoor; V. P. Sathe; K. K. Singh; Jyoti Swaroop
Produced by	Randhir Kapoor
Starring	Rajiv Kapoor; Mandakini
Cinematography	Radhu Karmakar
Edited by	Raj Kapoor
Music by	Ravindra Jain
Distributed by	R. K. Films
Release date	16 August 1985;
Running time	178 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹1.44 crore
Box office	est. ₹19 crores (equivalent to ₹326 crore (US$46 million) in 2016)

Ram Teri Ganga Maili (transl. Ram, your Ganga is tainted) is a 1985 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film co-written and directed by Raj Kapoor. The film stars Rajiv Kapoor and Mandakini. The music was composed by Ravindra Jain. It was the last film directed by Kapoor.

Ram Teri Ganga Maili was released on 16 August 1985. The film was the highest-grossing Indian film of the year, which Box Office India classified as an "All-Time Blockbuster".^[1] It was also one of the highest-grossing Indian films of the 1980s, alongside Kranti (1981) and Maine Pyar Kiya (1989).

The film won five Filmfare Awards. The film generated controversy because of Mandakini's scenes of breastfeeding and bathing in a transparent saree. Even though, it received a U (Universal) age rating from the Indian Film Certification Board, which was later amended to U/A.

Plot

Narendra Sahay a.k.a. "Naren" is the son of Jeeva Sahay. He is a rich politician in Calcutta. Naren visits Gangotri to study the source of the holy river Ganga, and to get some holy water for his wheelchair-using paternal grandmother. There he meets a very pretty girl a named Ganga Singh. Ganga lives near Gangotri with her brother, Karam. Naren sees Ganga Taking Bath in a white saree under the waterfall and she also helped him to collect the holy water . Soon, they fall in love and decide to marry and sleep together. They are happily married but suddenly Naren has to return to Calcutta as he wanted to convince his parents about Ganga. While leaving for Calcutta, he promised that he will soon return to her. But he is prevented from doing so.

Ganga became pregnant with Naren's Child at the time of his leaving and soon, she becomes mother of a son. She faces many problems at her place because of her child and her beauty. Karam is killed by enemies and Ganga is alone and no one is there to look after her; finally she decides to go to her husband, Naren. Ganga travels from her place, Gangotri to Calcutta to find her husband. At Rishikesh, she was exploited by two women and a man. Then at Benaras, she was molested by a Pandit, rescued by the police and given a ticket to Calcutta. She fell into the clutches of Manilal who lured her to a brothel near Benaras.

Bhagwat Choudhary, a rich politician, buys Ganga and brings her to his "bagan bari" (house near a garden) as a personal concubine. Bhagwat has fixed his daughter, Radha's marriage with Naren. Naren was being informed that Ganga is dead. So, he decided to marry Radha, Bhagwat's daughter, according to his father's wish. Naren's maternal uncle, Kunj Bihari, finds Ganga in Bhagwat's bagan bari and invites to dance on her husband's marriage (to test if her husband can recognize her or not). But lastly, love wins and Naren recognizes his wife, Ganga. Jeeva refuses to accept Ganga as his daughter-in-law and Naren soon finds out about his son. They try to go away from there with their son but Bhagwat Choudhary shoots Ganga in a fit of rage. Ganga gets shot by him in her hand and Naren starts beating Bhagwat Choudhary, believing that he killed Ganga. But then Radha informs him that Ganga isn't dead yet. Naren stops beating Bhagwat and leaves with Ganga and their son to place travelling in river ganga.

Cast

Rajiv Kapoor as Narendra "Naren" Sahay :Ganga's Husband, Radha's Love Interest
Mandakini as Ganga Sahay : Naren's Wife
Divya Rana as Radha B. Choudhary :Naren's Fiancee
Sushma Seth as Dadi Maa
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 Tajeshwari Bai
A. K. Hangal as Brij Kishore
Gautam Sarin as Naren's fellow classmate
Monty Nath as Naren's fellow classmate who lost his watch
Kamaldeep as Chamanlal
Tom Alter as Karam Singh (Ganga's elder brother)
Javed Khan Amrohi as Manglu (Ganga's fiancé)

Production

According to Padmini Kolhapure, she was the initial choice for the female lead role but declined because the script had a kissing scene.^[2] Mandakini, who ultimately played the role, disputed Kolhapure's claims. She said Raj Kapoor wanted only a new face, rather than an established actress, as he believed he could not "make someone pure Ganga if they have an established image". Mandakini also stated that she did not breastfeed despite popular belief, but the scene was shot in a way to suggest that.^[3] in 2025, Khusboo relaved that she was first choice for playing Ganga.^[4]

The inspiration for this movie is the song 'Ek Radha, Ek Meera', which distinguishes the differing kinds of love for Krishna from Radha and Meera. The song had been written and composed by then new music director Ravindra Jain. Upon hearing the song (being sung on the stage by Ravindra Jain himself) at a wedding, Raj Kapoor was struck by the song. He later invited the singer to sing the same song to him again. Thus was born a movie, from the love of a song. The entire movie was conceived from that one song, and launched the career of Ravindra Jain. This incident was narrated by Randhir Kapoor, who had accompanied his father to that wedding. ^[5]

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."^[6]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Ram Teri Ganga Maili performed well at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing Indian film of the year, which Box Office India classified as an "All-Time Blockbuster". It collected a nett amount of ₹9.5 crore.^[1]

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 partially 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.^{[citation needed]}

Awards

33rd Filmfare Awards:

Won

Nominated^[7]

Best Actress – Mandakini
Best Supporting Actor – Saeed Jaffrey
Best Lyricist – Hasrat Jaipuri for "Sun Sahiba Sun"
Best Male Playback Singer – Suresh Wadkar for "Main Hi Main Hoon"
Best Story – Raj Kapoor

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 Lyrics-Ravindra Jain
"Ek Radha Ek Meera" – Lata Mangeshkar Lyrics-Ravindra Jain B Tiwari Atmajee
"Husn Pahadon Ka" – Lata Mangeshkar, Suresh Wadkar Lyrics-Ravindra Jain
"Ram Teri Ganga Maili Ho Gayee" – Part 1 – Suresh Wadkar Lyrics-Ravindra Jain
"Sun Sahiba Sun Pyaar Ki Dhun Maine Tujhe Chun Liya" – Lata Mangeshkar & chorus; Lyrics – Hasrat Jaipuri
"Tujhe Bulayen Yeh Meri Bahen" – Lata Mangeshkar Lyrics-Ravindra Jain
"Yaara O Yaara" – Lata Mangeshkar, Suresh Wadkar Lyrics-Ravindra Jain
"Ram Teri Ganga Maili Ho Gayee" – Part 2 – Suresh Wadkar & Chorus Lyrics-Ravindra Jain
"Main Hi Main Hoon -Suresh Wadkar; Lyrics – Amir Qazalbash