Jagmohan Singh Barhok
(1961-2021)
Thespian Dilip Kumar, born Mohammed Yusuf Khan on 11 December 1922 at Peshawar ,now in Pakistan, worked in more than 65 films during his entire film career starting 1940s with “Jwar Bhata” (1944). The film failed to further his career followed by two more that went unnoticed until Noorjehan starrer “Jugnu” (1947) came like a shot in the arm followed by “Shaheed” & “Mela” in 1948. Followed “Andaz” (1949), starring Raj Kapoor & Nargis: his only film with the showman.
There was no looking back for the young Khan whose “Aan”(1952) starring Nadira & Nimmi with Prem Nath did wonders worldwide.It was released in UK as “Savage Princess”. Rest is history -“Daag” (1952),”Amar” (1954) pathos peronified “Devdas” (1955), comical “Azaad” (1955), musical hit “Naya Daur” (1957), the noir mystery “Madhumati” (1958), the epic historical “Mughal-E-Azam “(1960), & the social dacoit crime drama “Gunga Jumna” (1961),the subject of this write-up,the only film thespian ventured to produce during a career spanning more than five decades.The making also indicated the pains and pangs as a producer as the film was held up by censors for months until Morarji Desai intervened & it could see the light of the day.
The film was predominantly shot at locations in Madhya Pradesh where some songs and the ‘train dacoity’ sequences were filmed.The highlight of the film was its Awadhi dialect.
The film revolves round two brothers Ganga & Jumna who live in a village. Ganga, the elder of the two, is falsely implicated by the landlord Hariram (Anwar Hussain) forcing him to take refuge in forest with his heart -throb (played by Vyjayanthimala) and become a dacoit. His younger brother becomes a police officer & the two confront each other in the later part of the film. Dilip’s younger brother Nasir Khan plays Jumna in the film. Years later Ganga decides to return to his village & gets killed in an encounter at the hands of his younger brother whom he had brought up and made worthy of becoming a police officer.
Directed by Nitin Bose , the film was ably supported by Anwar Hussan,Kanhaiya Lal, Leela Chitnis, Aruna Irani, Naaz & Helen.The film had music by Naushad with hits like-“Dhundo Dhundo Re Sajna”, “Do Hanson Ka Joda” ,”Nain Lad Jaihe To” ,”Insaaf Ki Dagar Pe” & “Tora Man Bada Paapi” to mention.
It was one of the 10 highest grossing Movies in 1961 followed by -‘Junglee’, ‘Gharana’, ‘Aas Ka Panchhi’, ‘Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai’ ,’Sasural’, ‘Hum Dono’, ‘Kabuliwala’, ‘Zindagi aur Khwab’, & ‘Shola Aur Shabnam’. The film grossed 7 crore with a net 3.7 crore profit.
The film completed Silver & Golden Jubilees run at Cinema Halls. In 2011, the film was listed at number 2 by Box Office India magazine behind ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960) and ahead of ‘Sholay’ (1975) in their list of “Top 50 Film of Last 50 Years”. “Ganga Jumna” inspired other producers to make films on similar lines & subjets like-“Deewar” & “Sholay”.Amjad Khan’s dialect was inspired by the film under reference.
At the 9th Filmfare Awards,to the surprise of many,Raj Kapoor was chosen as the Best Actor for “Jis Desh Main Ganga Behti Hai”. The Hindu described it as “a strange travesty of justice” that Kumar lost out the award, after delivering “a magnificent role of a lifetime”.The film won many accolades including National Film Award and Filmfare Awards in three categories- Best Actress Vyjayanthimala,Best Dialogue Wajahat Mirza & Best Cinematographer V. Babasaheb.
“Babul”, “Deedar”,”Yahudi”,”Ram Aur Shyam”,”Paigham”,”Kohinoor” & “Sunghursh” were other notable films of the actor.Held office as MP( Rajya Sabha) from 3 April 2000 – 2 April 2006.
Married to actress Saira Bano, Kumar was related to Begum Para & Ayub Khan .Bestowed with Padma Bhushan (1991), Padma Vibhushan (2015), 8 Filmfare Awards including Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1994) & Nishan-E-Imtiaz (1998),the actor breathed his last on 7 July 2021, aged 98.
