Sangam (1964 Hindi film)

Sangam
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRaj Kapoor
Written byInder Raj Anand
Produced byRaj Kapoor
Starring
Narrated byRaj Kapoor
CinematographyRadhu Karmakar
Edited byRaj Kapoor
Music byShankar–Jaikishan
Production
companies
Distributed byR. K. Films
Release date
  • 26 June 1964 (1964-06-26)
Running time
238 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi[1]

Sangam (transl. Confluence) is a 1964 Indian musical romantic drama directed, produced and edited by Raj Kapoor at R. K. Studios, written by Inder Raj Anand, and distributed by R. K. Films with Mehboob Studio and Filmistan. It stars Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Vyjayanthimala in lead roles, along with Iftekhar, Raj Mehra, Nana Palsikar, Lalita Pawar, Achala Sachdev, Hari Shivdasani in supporting roles. It tells the story of a pilot Sundar (Raj Kapoor), who upon returning home from war after being assumed dead, weds the woman Radha (Vyjayanthimala) he had long loved, unaware that she had been planning to marry his best friend Gopal (Rajendra Kumar).

Sangam was the first Indian film to be exclusively shot abroad on locations including London, Paris and Switzerland,[2] and was also among the most expensive film of its time with the longest runtime for an Indian film up to that time. The film explores themes of love, loyalty, sacrifice, and the consequences of choices made in relationships. It portrays the conflicts and emotional turmoil faced by the characters as they navigate their complicated circumstances. The film was considered bold and much ahead of its time due to its storyline and characterizations. All these things immensely contributed to the commercial success of the film.[3]

Sangam released on 26 June 1964 to widespread critical acclaim, with high praise for its novel concept, direction, screenplay, dialogue, soundtrack, costumes, cinematography and performances of the cast, and was widely considered as Hindi cinema's greatest love triangle.[4][5] It emerged as a major blockbuster at the box-office, grossing ₹8 crore worldwide, ranking as the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year, and the second highest-grossing film of the decade behind Mughal-e-Azam (1960).[6]

Sangam is widely regarded as R. K. Films’ magnum opus and the career-best performances of Raj Kapoor, Vyjayanthimala and Rajendra Kumar.

Internationally, the film was released in the Soviet Union in 1964.[7][8] Director Dasari Narayana Rao remade the film in Telugu, Kannada and Tamil languages as Swapna (1981).

  1. ^ Aḵẖtar, Jāvīd; Kabir, Nasreen Munni (2002). Talking Films: Conversations on Hindi Cinema with Javed Akhtar. Oxford University Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-19-566462-1. Archived from the original on 22 February 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2017. most of the writers working in this so-called Hindi cinema write in Urdu: Gulzar or Rajinder Singh Bedi or Inder Raj Anand or Rahi Masoom Raza or Wajahat Mirza, who wrote dialogue for films like Mughal-e-Azam and Gunga Jumna and Mother India. So most dialogue-writers and most song-writers are from the Urdu discipline, even today.
  2. ^ "Sangam - First Indian Movie To Be Shot Abroad - Raj Kapoor - Classic Hindi Movie Poster - Posters". Tallenge Store. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Blast from the past: This film started the trend of shooting abroad". filmfare.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  4. ^ DHNS. "Happily ever after?". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  5. ^ "rediff.com, Movies: Classics Revisited: Sangam". inhome.rediff.com. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Sergey Kudryavtsev. "Личное СВК (13000 названий) - фильмы 1961–1965 годов (часть 2 – 200 фильмов)". Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  8. ^ Rajagopalan, Sudha (2005). Indian Films in Soviet Cinemas: The Culture of Movie-going After Stalin. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253220998. Archived from the original on 8 August 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2020.