Synopsis
The film is a story of two bothers on opposite
sides of the law, Ganga (Dilip Kumar) and
Jamuna (Nasir Khan). Having been framed
for a crime he did not commit by a zamindar
(Anwar Hussain), Ganga becomes a criminal
living in the mountains with his girlfriend,
Dhanno (Vyjayantimala). Jamuna, educated
on Ganga's money in the city, becomes an
upright police officer. When years later
Ganga is about to become a father, he decides
to return to the village but has to face
his brother who shoots him down in the name
of duty. Dhanno also dies in the gun battle.
The film
Ganga Jamuna is a dacoit drama taking
off from Hollywood Gangster films like Manhattan
Melodrama (1934), and pioneered a widely
copied action formula of two brothers on
opposite sides of the law, most notably
in Deewaar (1975).
The most significant departure from the
Hollywood stories is that the two protagonists
here are brothers rather than buddies like
in Manhattan Melodrama or kids who
have grown up in the same block like Angels
with Dirty Faces (1938) and what's more
real life brothers Dilip Kumar
and Nasir Khan play the protagonists! And
like most of the films of this type, the
focus and sympathy is totally on the good
man who is forced by circumstances to turn
bad. But having taken up a life of crime,
his redemption, in spite of all that he
has gone through, comes only with his death.
 Directed
by New Theatres old-timer Nitin Bose (though
supposedly ghost-directed by Dilip Kumar),
Ganga Jamuna is a well-structured
and briskly paced film and was notable of
the use of Bhojpuri dialect, which helps
make the film refreshingly real and gives
it a proper locale and geography. The performances
by lead artistes Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala
are faultless and full marks to the latter
who in spite of her South Indian upbringing
speaks the Bhojpuri dialect flawlessly.
While Vyjayantimala deservedly won the Filmfare
Award that year for Best Actress, shockingly
Dilip Kumar lost out to Raj Kapoor
for the Best Actor award, which the
latter won for his production Jis Desh
Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1960).
The
lyrics of the film also make use of the Bhojpuri flavour and
Naushad's earthy
music naturally does its work to enhance the film without
thrusting itself too obtrusively on the attention of the audience.
Nain Lad Gayin re (sung by Mohd. Rafi),
Do Hanson ka Joda and Dhoono Dhoondo re Saajna
(both sung by Lata
Mangeshkar) are particularly well tuned and were popular
hits.
Ganga Jamuna is one of the
few Indian films that enjoy legendary cult
status and runs to packed houses even when
released today.
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