To pay tribute to India’s renowned film director, Nitin Bose, Bharat Bhavan organised a film fest ‘Ekagra’ under its Chhavi series of classical cinema. Under the fest movies by Bose are being screened.
On Sunday Ganga Jamuna was presented at Abhirang Auditorium, Bharat Bhavan. Ganga Jamuna is a 1961 dacoit drama Bollywood film produced in Technicolor by Dilip Kumar and directed by Nitin Bose. The film stars Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala in the lead with Nasir Khan, Azra, leela Chitnis, Kanhaiyalal, Anwar Hussain, Nazir Hussain and Helen forming an ensemble cast. Notable for its use of Bhojpuri dialect and its rustic setting, the film features real life brothers Dilip Kumar and Nasir Khan in the title role.
The films dealt on issue of sibling rivalry and had a theme of two brothers on the opposite sides of law. The film is about two brothers, Gunga and Jumna, growing up in a village controlled by an evil landlord. When Gunga is framed by the landlord for a crime he did not commit, he escapes to the mountains with his girlfriend, Dhanno, and joins a band of bandits. His younger brother, Jumna, is sent to the city for his education and becomes a police officer. Years later, when Gunga is about to become a father, he decides to return to the village to ask for forgiveness. However, Jumna wants him to surrender to the police for his crimes and when Gunga refuses and tries to leave, Jumna shoots him dead. Gunga’s death rendered more poignant by the fact that it was his money that paid for Jumna’s education and allowed him to become a policeman.