Gangaa Jamunaa Saraswathi

Gangaa Jamuna Saraswathi was apparently a Super Flop when it was released. I cant remember because I was 5 Years old when it came out. I was use to seeing this movie many times because I owned it on video at the time. I've seen this movie about 20 times when I was a kid, I enjoyed this movie a lot. I saw it again recently after almost a decade and realised why this movie was a flop. This movie does have a lot of silly things and unrealistic things going on in the film. Still, I like this film because it is entertaining and it brought together Amitabh Bachchan and Mithun, my two favourite actors at the time. Meenakshi was a pretty actress in that year and Jaye Pradha was average. Amrish Puri does a good job as usual as the bad guy. Amitabh gives a good performance and Mithun was Fantastic in this movie. I loved it because it had Amitabh carrying a crocodile which must of excited some kids at the time, like it did for me.

One of the best movie of Indian cinema... BigB & Amresh Puri sir is great, just awesome.

Gangaa Jamunaa Saraswathi is an awful film. The movie follows, cliché after cliché, the stories of its main characters, Ganga, Jamuna, Shankar (who is for some reason omitted from the title) and Saraswathi. The story of the film is very corny and almost every plot element looks familiar, forced and predictable, and is based on impossible coincidences. Technically the movie is also very bad, though that was the case with most Hindi movies of its sort at that time. The action sequences were, as expected, very overdone, and so was everything else in the movie, which was totally melodramatic, often for no reason. At times the movie was really unbearable, but it had its moments from time to time, though they still did not make it a worthy watch. I'm talking about the overly silly proceedings with almost every character going superhuman and supernatural, and the moments of lucky coincidence, which Manmohan Desai is so famous for. They all were ridiculous and unintentionally funny. The movie stars Amitabh Bachchan as Ganga. Bachchan is terribly miscast simply because he looks too old for the part. In terms of acting he does an okay job, still considering the film's poor writing. Mithun Chakraborty is given a role of minimal substance, and well, he too is okay. Jaya Pradha, as the golden-hearted prostitute, and Meenakshi Sheshadri, as the vivacious gypsy, are pretty. Nirupa Roy is the typical suffering mother, and Amrish Puri is the typical cruel villain. Anu Malik's music is alright. Manmohan Desai has had a prolific career, and I quite enjoyed some of his movies. Gangaa Jamunaa Saraswathi was his final offering as a director. Fans of this sort of movies would probably enjoy it, since it's a movie which requires no brain and is not to be taken seriously. I highly disliked it and found it quite pathetic.

I have heard many negative reviews and also am aware of the fact that 'Gangaa Jamunaa Saraswathi' was a major flop during the year of its release. As a child, this was one of my favourite movies and I had the chance to revisit this one after about 17 years and I have got to say that I still find it entertaining but in a way that one would enjoy a campy film. It is so bad that it's good. While it holds nostalgic value for me, it is overall more enjoyable than other campy flicks of the time like the overrated 'Amar Akbar Anthony', 'Mard', 'Coolie' etc (all made by Manmohan Desai).

Let's go to the (well intended) good parts. Kader Khan's sharp witty dialogues are hilarious. It's a pity that he doesn't write for movies anymore as many films lack the necessary wit to charm the viewer. Secondly, the performances by Meenakshi Sheshadri, Jaya Prada and Mithun Chokroborty are brilliant. Sheshadri is incredibly beautiful and her Jamunaa is vivacious, charming and streetsmart. Her performance is very natural. Jaya Prada is wonderful as the virgin prostitute, I mean, virgin cabaret singer and dancer in a brothel (confused?) who doesn't dare to dream of getting married and living a decent respectable life with a husband. Chokroborty is a little loud at times but he is impressive when restrained and his unrequited love for Jamunaa is well displayed.

It was a welcome change to see Amitabh Bachchan (who was recognized at that time for his on screen angry-man image) a lot more mellow and laidback, even though he's a little too old for his role. Nirupa Roy was the formulaic mother. Amrish Puri is fun as Gangaa's evil maternal uncle.

The third strong point, is the beautiful locations. I miss watching those marvelous locales of India that one used to see in older movies. In contrast, nowadays most movies concern themselves either with showing the slums of India or the posh sights of America, Europe and whatever.

The music is of the foot-tapping and catchy sort and some of them have very good lyrics. I liked how 'Saajan Mera' and 'Churiyan Khanki' were visualized on the drop dead gorgeous Meenakshi Sheshadri. The movie's got quite a variety of songs: qawali, mujra, semi-bhangra, religious etc. 'Nachegi Saraswati' is another catchy song where of course one sees Jaya Prada dancing on a moving truck (this sequence is an example of one of the worst blue screen filters ever).

On the technical side, the special effects are abysmal and the cinematography is flat. The sound effects are poor and so is the lighting at times but it's a colourful movie and all of this adds to the campiness.

Aside the expected songs appearing out of nowhere, the random dishum dishum scenes and the gazillion coincidences, you have: Jaya Prada as a virgin prostitute dancing on a moving truck (as mentioned earlier), Amitabh Bachchan doing a Michael Jackson number (this one is laugh out loud material), Meenakshi Sheshadri banging her head on a rock and consequently losing her memory (amnesia being a required Manmohan Desai ingredient), Mithun Chokroborty and Amitabh Bachchan getting two year jail sentences because Amrish Puri had them arrested. Amitabh fighting with crocodiles and carrying one on his back, Meenakshi sleeping in an upside down bathtub, a feather that plays a rat, an unintentionally funny sex scene, a baby falling right inside a tire that rescues him from drowning, Amitabh stopping a fire with an axe, a milk drinking snake, a villain having his head eaten by a crocodile ...and so much more of such fun stuff...how could one not expect a cinematic adventure? :)

Well what can i say about this movie? Despite the negativity on all the other reviews, i am going to be different and say i throughly enjoyed this movie, to much of an extent that it has earned a spot in my 'favourite list'. My first viewing of this movie was 6 years ago and i enjoyed it. This got me by surprise, as it was of Amitabh, the elderly man who danced around in 'Say Shaba Shaba'from KKKG! I had never seen a movie of him in his younger days, but boy am i glad i did and i think it earned my respect towards him and made me realise why everyone is crazy over him! I fell in love with the story, songs and characters, but none more so of 'Jamuna', (played by Meenakshi Seshadri), as her every scene entertained me! She has the looks, comedic skills and the voice! This movie re-led me to watch other movies of the 80's and to seek out movies of Meenakshi and Jaya Prada, who are now my favourite actresses of the 80s, and also of A.B's. I also loved the pairings of Meenakshi/A.B and Jaya/A.B, and always try to find movies of these two pairs. I loved the story as it showed a brief introduction of 'Ganga' 'Jamuna' and 'Saraswati' and how they all connect with one another by the events of the movie. The story was entertaining as it had romance, comedy (the mouse & tub scene haha), action and heartfelt songs. This movie became an instant hit within me and i loved Jamuna and Saraswati! What i still can't believe is that this movie was a super flop! Never the less, i still love it, so much that i even watched it yesterday night, and still have not got bored of it.

Remember readers, never judge a movie through the words of a critic, as you have to watch it for yourself and decide whether you like it or not. Luckily i found this gem of a movie through the persistence of my mum to watch it, and have never regretted since, as it re-introduced me to the 80s style of movies, the drop dead stunning beauties Meenakshi Seshadri and Jaya Prada, Amitabh and of course, this brilliant movie! Watch this movie and let yourself decide on your view of it!