Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai

Once again, Raj Kapoor produces a nice and touching movie.

The movie has a basic theme: dacoits against the law. But in between those two barriers is Raju (Raj Kapoor), a simple and honest fellow, who is pure as the Ganga River...hence the title. He is a dafli wala.

The story begins when the Sardar of a gang of Dakkus is shot by a police officer. When Raju passes by, singing in a quite jolly way, the Sardar points a gun at him, and tells Raju to take out any weapons that he has. Raju reaches into his bag and takes out his most powerful weapon...a fork. Yes, a fork, obviously Raju isn't a very violent person. In fact, he ties the wound, and feeds the man. When the Sardar becomes unconscious, Raju is worried. When he hears sounds outside, he comes out and says, "Khabardaar, mein police officer hoon" (Don't dare, I'm a police officer). Misunderstanding this, the dakkus kidnap Raju.

Here he has to prove to the unbelieving dacoits and their families that he is indeed just a dafliwala, and not a police officer. He shows off his talent, and some believe him and some don't.

One of the people who don't believe Raju is Rakka (Pran). He is very suspicious and is annoyed at Raju. Why is he annoyed, you ask? Because the village girl that Rakka wants to marry, Kammo (Padmini) starts to like Raju. And just as predicted, they want to get married. Kammo explains to him that the dakkus aren't bad, and that they just want to make the rich and the poor equal.

Ha, and Raju believes it.

But he soon finds out about their ruthless crime, especially Rakka, who kills a little boy and the brand new groom of a wedding where they were to steal. Raju can't take it any more, and he decides that he has a lot of problems to solve, not just with the dakkus, but with the police too...who he thinks stoop just as low to stop crime. His journey of love and justice starts here.

So that's basically the plot. Actingwise, many were impressive. Raj Kapoor, as usual, suited and flawlessly played his role. It's nice to know that he produced a movie with such a nice theme. And Pran was no less, he played his role with just as much intensity, and...I'm sad to say...had a better hair style than our Raj. Hey, but that's okay right? Lalita Pawar was very nice, and she also made me cry. Padmini overacted in a few parts, but her role was not too influential so it didn't really matter that much.

And last but not least...the music! Beautiful. Every bit of it, from the songs to the background score. Shankar Jaikishan once again makes a perfect soundtrack for Raj Kapoor. Lata, as usual, sang her heart out, captivating ours' as well. "O Basanti", "O Maine Pyar Kiya", "Begani Shaadi Mein", and "Kya Hua" are especially beautiful. The classic "Aa Ab Laut Chale" is magnificently sung by Mukesh, pierces the emotions...along with Lata's silk like voice in-between the stanzas. "Mera Naam Raju" and "Jis Desh Mein Ganga" are also classics sung by Mukesh. "Hum Bhi Hain" is also a must-listen.

The movie is touching and satisfying with every element of drama. I rate it an eight out of ten. I would have rated it higher if there weren't a few deaths that were a bit unnecessary...but I guess the director can't change the story. Watch the movie! A classic!

A simple innocent guy with a heart of gold is abducted by bandits; and he is determined to raise the bandits from their bad deeds and make them good people. A single man against hundreds of bandits seem to be a bit preachy and unrealistic, but the story somewhat works in "Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai" which is considered one of the classics of Raj Kapoor, which won several awards including Best Picture of the year.

Well, there are certain flaws in the film, which can be overlooked for the goodness and time period of the film. The innocence of Raj Kapoor or the heroine, Padmini is a bit overdone; but Raj Kapoor gives a brilliant performance, just like the one Aamir Khan did in "Pk", asking simple innocent questions whose answers convert lives of many. The music and camera work deserves a huge applaud and captures the mood of patriotism effectively with memorable songs like "Aa Ab Laut Chalein," "Begani Shadi Mein Abdullah Deewana," or the title song itself. The camera work is superb in capturing the landscapes full of caves and gorges portraying the areas of bandits.

Pran as usual appears a regular villain; but Lalita Pawar, in her very small role, leaves her impact. Overall, the film despite being overlong, never bores you and by the end, you leave your seats with a gratitude. Besides a simple lovable story, the film carries a nice message that bandits are also human with a loving family who need to be awaken from their bad deeds, for which the film deserves to be considered a classic.

Rating: 3 stars out of 4

Great cinematograph by Tara Dutt and Radhu Karmakar. Great music. Padmini exudes unmatched sex appeal (and this is a black and white film). Runs 20 reels with a leisurely pace. But a must watch.

Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai review :

The last RK film made in black & white and first film of Raj Kapoor without Nargis as his heroine; Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai is a beautiful film with a poignant message of dacoit rehabilitation. Pran's performance as the cruel bandit Raka won him accolades and significantly enhanced his career. The buxom Padmini looked ravishingly hot while bathing under a waterfall. Oye Hoye!!

Raj Kapoor played Raju, a tramp who saves a dacoits life and he takes him in his fold. The bandit's daughter Kammo (Padmini) falls in love with the simpleton Raju which angers her suitor and fellow daku Raka.

Directed by RKs cinematographer Radhu Karmakar, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai had Raj Kapoor stamp all over it. Infact, it can be called a precursor to his future productions :

• The idea of pure Ganga and the sensuous Padmini bathing under a waterfall was replicated in Raj Kapoor's blockbuster hit Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985).

• The song Aa Ab Laut Chalen became title of son Rishi Kapoor's directorial debut in 1999.

• The background tune in one scene became the famous song Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan in Kapoor's cult classic Mera Naam Joker (1970).

Shankar Jaikishen's music was fab. So was the camerawork and shot placement. But I love Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehti Hai for its wonderful climax. Only Raj Kapoor could think of it. "Love conquers all" is the mantra here. Excellent cinema!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960) : Brief Review -

An incredible film on Incredible India and its purifying nature. A Masterpiece ahead of contemporary bollywood cinema. A famous cinematographer of 40s and 50s Radhu Karmarkar directed only one film in his career and that's enough to remember his name forever. Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai is story of modern Indian culture and Nature where even Impure things will also get chance of purification. A naive singer Raju arrives in dacoits tribe and learns about thier sins. Then he tries to transform them into good human beings but is it really that easy? How he had to struggle a lot for this and how it sends a long-living message to Society about Incredible India and its bright future is what you get to see in the film. The film has a long runtime about 174 which is filled with awesome conflicts and every conflict is filled with rich content. Usually it takes me a plenty of time to realise that the film is going to be a Classic, sometimes it takes till the climax to see it but in first 30 minutes of Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai i was damn sure that this film is going to be a Masterpiece by the end. It kept me interested throughout and keep giving pleasant pushes after every 15 minutes. The screenplay deserves a praise here, because it includes so many things such as human nature being extremely Naive, extremely spoiled, balanced sometimes, love, socialism, lower cast issues, Indian legal system and what not. I don't remember any film of the same period talking about so many things together in one narrative hence making Jis Desh Me Ganga Rehti Hai far ahead of it's contemporaries. If i had seen this film in 1961 then the message would have stayed with me for 4 decades for sure, after that Indian culture changed massively 21st century. Raj Kapoor plays the naive guy with extreme innocence and kindness. He talks so purely, he walks so naively and he convinces to believe that yes someone like this guy could exist in real life. Padmini looks beautiful, dances nice and makes a solid pair with Raj Kapoor. Pran brings the cruelty and brutality in his villainous role with conviction and Lalita Pawar does her role perfectly. Musically, the film is blessed with couple of Chartbusters and Soulful numbers. The title song is pure gem. Both Lyrically and musically it works every time it comes on screen and fills soul in that particular scene with. Rest of the songs are enjoyable for the sake of situations. Cinematography and Dialogues are very good. Radhu Karmarkar direction is top class. There were no films made on so many issues together but he didn't scatter under pressure, instead he gave everything he had and turned the film into Masterpiece. Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai is a MUST WATCH for so many reasons, i just can't tell all of them. One of the Finest film in Legend Raj Kapoor's Filmography. Enough said. If you are fan of his earlier work 'Jagtey Raho' which defined Art cinema into mainstream Bollywood films then Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti is very much similar to that and as an additional bonus it has commercial factors too. A MASTERPIECE !

RATING - 9/10*

By - #samthebestest