A Tale of Two Brothers. Review on Ganga Jamuna

To make a classic is no mean task; it requires ruthless determination, loads of optimism, supreme confidence in self, integrity to the subject matter and mastery over the medium. Maybe that?s the reason why many of our acclaimed top tier filmmakers shy away from making movies, which maybe deemed to be right up there with the best and the greatest. Maybe the lure of the box-office is greater than the lure of the medium itself.

It?s the very select few who possess the guts to follow their dreams to fruition and when they do, the result is almost worth it?s effort. In short, it?s poetry in motion.

Ganga Jamuna is one such movie. Denounced by all the stalwart directors and producers of the period as too daring for using a local Bhojpuri dialect and considered too risky for it?s lead actors; today Gunga Jamuna is considered one of the finest and best works of Hindi cinema

Ganga Jamuna is a movie which works on two levels. On one level, it is a story of two brothers whose deep love for each other is tested by unfortunate circumstances that pit them against each other in the name of duty. On the other level, it?s a story that puts into bold relief the eternal question of priorities ? what?s more important ? relationships or duty?

Dilip Kumar as Ganga puts forth one of the best performances of his life. Indeed, for a man anointed the Emperor of Acting and whose worst performances sometimes overshadow the best of other lesser mortals, this is a matter of great curiosity. It?s indeed a sumptuous treat to watch the great thespian move flawlessly from joy to sorrow to anger to frustration to anguish in a matter of seconds and the best part is that each and every emotion manages to register it?s impact in the mind of the viewers. Some of his scenes which deserve special mention are the scenes where he is being hounded by other villagers and the courtroom scene where he accepts guilt for a crime he never committed. Equally memorable is the scene where he?s trying to explain his circumstances to his younger brother and the death scene, which is remarkable to say the least.

Vyjayanthimala as Dhanno is extremely brilliant. The transformation of the innocent village belle to a loving and devoted, although unfortunate, wife is well portrayed. Vyjayanthimala specially scores in the scenes where a display of maturity is required. I have little doubt few other actresses could have portrayed the role as portrayed by her. This is definitely one of her best performances.

Nasir Khan, as the silently suffering Jamuna does complete justice to his role. In his introvert style, he is the perfect counterfoil to the elder brother ? both in reel and real life. Although the movie does not give him as much of a scope as Dilip, Nasir does have some excellent scenes especially in his introduction scene with Nasir Hussein and the scene where he stifles his love for Azra.

The confrontation between Dilip and Nasir are brilliantly executed. Not a highly verbose confrontation but still it portrays a lot of feeling and the depth of the relationship is left bare for all to see. Equally heart wrenching is the overpowering aura of a destiny guiding them to an unfortunate but unavoidable end.

Among the other principal actors, Kanhaiyalal steals the thunder with yet another flawless performance as Munimji. Leela Chitnis does a great job as the mother. Azra portrays her role with élan and Anwar Hussien and Nasir Hussien are quite convincing in their characterization.

The music by Naushad is mind-blowing. Some of the tracks like ?Nain Lad Jayibe? by Mohammed Rafi and ?Do Hanson Ka Joda? by Lata are exceptional. Shakeel weaves in some of his best lyrics for the movie and the subtle mastery of the wordsmith over his art is there for all to see.

Nitin Bose as the director does an exceptional job (let?s not discuss the charges of ghost direction by Dilip in a review). Some of the scenes, which deserve mention for their deft handling are the dacoity scene and the Kabbadi scene. Azim, the action director also deserves a pat for his exceptional job in making the train dacoity and chase an exceptionally well-crafted one.

The greatness of the film can be understood by the fact that this movie spawned a number of ?good versus bad in the blood relationship? type movies (some of them are classics like Deewar and Shakti). Another highlight of the movie was that it spawned a number of films in the Bhojpuri dialect ? in effect giving birth to an entire film industry.

All in all one of the leading accomplishments of Hindi Cinema?. A silent testimony to the dream and determination of a genius?? Dilip Kumar