Gunga Jumna - Der Kampf der Brüder

Gunga Jumna (1961) : Brief Review -

Easily, the greatest rooted mass blockbuster after Mother India and Naya Daur. What do you need to make a rooted mass blockbuster that can appeal to every section of the masses? 1) Good story. Gunga Jumna has one of the best. 2) Actors. Gunga Jumna has the best-Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala. 3) Rooted issues with dramatic elements. Gunga Jumna has probably the best dramatic plot after Mother India and Naya Daur. This rooted village drama (sometimes masala) has always been a major reason for the big blockbusters. The top four must be Sholay, Mother India, Gunga Jumna, and Naya Daur. What sets Gunga Jumna apart from those 3 films is the language. The use of Bhojpuri language makes it better because then it feels like one of our films. In the other three films, you see a regular Hindi language, which appeals to a larger section of the audience, including city audiences. Gunga Jumna went against it and managed to create its own benchmark. The same goes for the songs, because then they feel more grounded. If a viewer in Mumbai is enjoying Bhojpuri lyrics because he sees good music and Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala dancing to it, then I think your film has broken the barrier of local language. With its influential formula of a good man turning into a bad man and his own blood having to go against it just because he was the one who taught him so, this has been one of the most loved and dramatic conflicts ever in Indian cinema. If you can hype Salim-Javed's post-70s blockbusters for the same reason, then please remind yourself that most of it came from the likes of Mother India, Naya Daur, and Gunga Jumna. The storyline is powerful, and the screenplay keeps you hooked for 3 hours. That's insane. What's more, you get fantastic music, brilliant performances, and superb direction to enjoy one of the greatest rooted mass blockbusters ever made in Bollywood history.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.

The best film ever of Dilip and Vyjantimala.These two took acting to unprecedented realms in this great movie.Script,music,photography,editing....all the aspects that make a movie are near perfect.Only weak point would be Nasir Khan who is badly mis-casted as the younger brother but it seems that his presence brings such impact from Dilip Kumar that one is left awe-strucked.The story is perhaps not new but it is the realism of the film that attracts the mind.Who will forget the scene of the dying Dhano with Gunga imploring her not to leave him alone in the world.You feel how much she means to him as if the drama was being played right in front of you instead of on the screen.Magnificent!Similarly the scene where Gunga see off his brother at the railway station is too good to be true.The supporting cast is marvelous.Anwar Hussain gives an excellent performance as well as Kaniyalal and Sohrab Modi in a cameo role.And what to say of the music? You have to see the film to really enjoy it because it is made for it.A milestone in the Indian film history.

The songs in the film are part of the story. For instance the song 'dhoondho, dhoondho re sajna more kaan ka bala' is a sensuous one, that narrates how the heroine lost her virginity on the first night of her wedding. Take any of the songs, none are out of place, and all compliment their respective situations beautifully. They are shot, choreographed, and performed excellently. Camera work of the film is world class, and so is the sound design. Bollywood films of today, touted as technically superior, cannot match the sensibility and detailing of this one on various technical parameters. I wish we would have had more respect for our mainstream cinema and had not run down our cinematic tradition of using songs and dances and our lyrical romanticism.

Ganga Jumna is truly a world-class film and its characterization is real and the film represented its time and place more realistically than the Bollywood films of today that are seemingly set in India but have very little to do with Indian reality. It is a great entertainer and it also delivers important and relevant messages. This is one of the few films that even showcases that even dacoits followed certain moral code. In one of the scenes when Ganga hits Dhanno, the other dacoits castigate him for hitting a woman. Had the film been marketed well worldwide, it could have won the applause and approval of cinema lovers and aficianados all over the world for its cinematic qualities. While we are celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema, this film is worth our remembrance.

Circumstances leading two brothers on the different sides of law has been a much contrived plot in Indian Movies, "Deewar," among the names to list. Well, "Gunga Jumna" is the predecessor in this theme. Given a rustic rural backdrop and Bhojpuri dialect, the film sparks in terms of art, storytelling, or performances. DIlip Kumar, Vaijyantimala, and Kanhaiyalal all make bravura performances. There are emotions and wit spread along, nuanced through the mesmerising cinematic frames the film creates. Abundance of songs and dances stretches the film a bit, but doesn't reduce the pleasure the film overall imparts. After "Mother India," it's a film which deserves to be archived for the pure Indianism the film tries to canvass.

Rating: 3 stars out of 4

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