Ram Aur Shyam

Ram Aur Shyam (English: Ram And Shyam) is a 1967 Indian comedy-drama film directed by Tapi Chanakya. It stars Dilip Kumar in a double role as twins separated at birth, alongside Waheeda Rehman, Mumtaz, Nirupa Roy and Pran. Ram Aur Shyam featured music composed by Naushad, with lyrics written by Shakeel Badayuni. Ram Aur Shyam proved to be an inspiration to various "twins-separated-at-birth" films like Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), ChaalBaaz (1989) and Kishen Kanhaiya (1990) and Gopi Kishan (1994). In turn, it was a Hindi film remake of 1964 Telugu film Ramudu Bheemudu, starring N. T. Rama Rao.

Not to be confused with Ram Aur Shyam (1996 film).

Ram Aur Shyam
Ram Aur Shyam poster
Directed byTapi Chanakya
Produced byChakrapani
B. Nagi Reddi
Written byKaushal Bharati
D.V. Narasaraju
Story byD. V. Narasa Raju
Based onRamudu Bheemudu (Telugu)
StarringDilip Kumar
Waheeda Rehman
Mumtaz
Nirupa Roy
Pran
Music byNaushad (composer)
Shakeel Badayuni (lyrics)
CinematographyMarcus Bartley
Edited byC. P. Jambulingam
Production
company
Distributed byVijaya Productions
Release date
1967
Running time
171 min.
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Box officeest. ₹104.3 million ($13.8 million)

Ram Aur Shyam proved to be a blockbuster at the box-office.[1] it was one of 1967's highest-grossing Indian films, domestically in India and overseas in the Soviet Union.[2] Originally, Vyjayanthimala and Mala Sinha were supposed to star in the roles portrayed by Waheeda Rehman and Mumtaz respectively, but were replaced for unknown reasons.

Ram Aur Shyam received 3 nominations at the 15th Filmfare Awards, including Best Actress for Rehman and Best Supporting Actress for Mumtaz, and won Best Actor for Kumar.

Plot

Ram (Dilip Kumar) lives with his sister Sulakshana (Nirupa Roy) and niece Kuku in his family estate. His brother-in-law Gajendra (Pran) is a ghar jamai who looks after his factories and controls his property with an iron hand. Ram is shy and cowardly in nature. He is always abused and brutally beaten by Gajendra. Sulakshana and Kuku try to protect Ram from Gajendra whenever he whips Ram. Everybody decides to get Ram married for his well being. Gajendra finds a rich girl Anjana (Waheeda Rehman) with the aim of getting a huge dowry. Anjana dislikes Ram after he spills tea over her due to nervousness. Gajendra, angry at Ram's behaviour, conspires with the support of his mother and cunning Munimji to kill Ram and take over his property. Ram overhears this and escapes to the city to save his life. Meanwhile, Ram's long lost twin brother Shyam (also Dilip Kumar) lives in a village with his adopted mother Ganga, whom he believes to be his biological mother. No one other than Ganga knows the truth about the twin brothers. Shyam is strong, brave and mischievous, unlike his brother. He has a love-hate relationship with Shanta (Mumtaz). Shyam escapes to the city, after a mischievous conflict with Ganga, and meets Anjana, who is impressed by his personality. Anjana and her father confuse Shyam with Ram. Ram meets Shanta, who thinks he is Shyam and takes him forcefully to his mother. Ram and Shanta develop feelings for each other. Meanwhile, Shyam decides to take the place of Ram to face Gajendra. Shyam refuses to sign his property over, after which angry Gajendra attacks him. Shyam retaliates and whips Gajendra hard, shocking everybody. Sulakshana stops her brother to protect her husband. Gajendra is startled after being beaten up by Shyam, whom everybody believes as Ram. Shanta and Anjana meet and both claim the picture of Ram as their fiancé. Gajendra learns that Shyam has taken the place of Ram. He abducts Ram and Shanta, and plans to kill Ram. He frames Shyam for the murder of Ram though Ram is alive. Shyam is arrested by police. Anjana and her father learn from Ganga that Ram and Shyam are twin brothers lost in a village fair. They also learn about the true colour of Gajendra. Shyam escapes from police custody and battles Gajendra and his henchmen. Gajendra tries to shoot them, but both the brothers and Shanta manage to defeat him. At the end, the twin brothers are happily married and the family reunited.

Cast

Reception

Dilip Kumar, who was known as "Tragedy-King" surprised the audience with his comic performance, which won him Best Actor at the 15th Filmfare Awards.[3]

Box-Office

At the domestic Indian box office, Ram Aur Shyam grossed ₹27.5 million [2] ($3.7 million ).[4] Adjusted for inflation, the film's domestic gross is equivalent to $28 million (₹1.84 billion ) in 2016.[5] It was 1967's second highest-grossing film in India, after Upkar.[2]

Overseas at the Soviet box office, Ram Aur Shyam was released with 1,160 prints and sold 33.4 million tickets in 1972.[6] At the average Soviet ticket price of 25 kopecks at the time,[7][8] the film grossed 8.35 million rubles ($10.1 million ),[9] ₹76.8 million ).[10] Adjusted for inflation, the film's overseas Soviet gross is equivalent to $62 million (₹3.96 billion ) in 2016.[5] It was the second highest-grossing 1967 Indian film in the Soviet Union, after Hamraaz.[6]

Worldwide, the film grossed ₹104.3 million ($13.8 million ) by 1972. Adjusted for inflation, its worldwide gross is equivalent to ₹5.8 billion ($85 million ) in 2016.

Legacy

Dilip Kumar stated in an interview "The script of Ram Aur Shyam (1967) offered me endless stimulation. Each scene was sharply written to highlight the contrast between the characters and their predicaments."[11] Ram Aur Shyam has inspired remakes among Hindi movies, with Seeta Aur Geeta (featuring female twins, played by Hema Malini) in 1972; Chaalbaaz (starring Sridevi) in 1989; and Kishen Kanhaiya (starring Anil Kapoor) in 1990.

International DVD release

The movie was dubbed in Russian and released as Рам и Шиам.

Soundtrack
Ram Aur Shyam
Soundtrack album by
Naushad
Released1967
GenreFeature Film Soundtrack
LabelHMV, Saregama
ProducerNaushad

Lyrics were written by Shakeel Badayuni.

SongSinger
"Aaj Ki Raat Mere Dil Ki Salaami Le Le" Mohammed Rafi
"Aayi Hai Baharen, Mite Zulm-O-Sitam" Mohammed Rafi
"Main Hoon Saaqi, Tu Hai Sharabi Sharabi" Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
"Balam, Tere Pyar Ki Thandi Aag Mein" Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle
"Dheere Dheere Bol, Koi Sun Lega" Mahendra Kapoor, Asha Bhosle
"Aaj Sakhi Ri Mori Piya Ghar Aaye" Asha Bhosle

References
  1. "Fifty years of a trendsetting blockbuster Ramudu Bheemudu". The Hindu. 21 May 2014. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  2. "Box Office 1967". Box Office India. 7 February 2009. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009.
  3. Aps Maphotra (10 January 2009). "Ram aur Shyam 1967". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
  4. "Pacific Exchange Rate Service (7.5 INR per USD)" (PDF). UBC Sauder School of Business. University of British Columbia. 1967. p. 3. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  5. "Exchange Rates (68.3 INR per USD)". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 2016.
  6. Sergey Kudryavtsev (3 August 2008). "Зарубежные популярные фильмы в советском кинопрокате (Индия)".
  7. Moscow Prime Time: How the Soviet Union Built the Media Empire that Lost the Cultural Cold War, page 48, Cornell University Press, 2011
  8. The Routledge Handbook of the Cold War, page 357, Routledge, 2014
  9. "Archive (0.83 rubles per dollar)". Central Bank of Russia. 1972.
  10. "Pacific Exchange Rate Service (7.6 INR per USD)" (PDF). UBC Sauder School of Business. University of British Columbia. 1972. p. 3. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  11. "Veteran Dilip Kumar talks about celluloid magic". Hindustan Times.
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