Ganga (1972 film)
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''Ganga'' is a 1972 Indian
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...
-language
Western film The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...
directed and filmed by M. Karnan. The film stars
Jaishankar Jaishankar (12 July 1938 – 3 June 2000) was an Indian actor known for his work in Tamil cinema. He was a very popular lead actor in the 1960s and 70s. He was credited onscreen with title of ''Makkal Kalaingnar'' (people's artiste) or '' ...
and Rajakokila. It was released on 15 January 1972, and became a commercial success.


Plot

Kathirvelu, a reformed robber, lives with his wife and son. He raises his son Ganga to be a brave warrior, but Ganga develops a penchant for women and alcoholism. Kathirvelu, one day, sees his son in an drunken state. Enraged, he expels him from the house. At this juncture, his past life comes back in the form of his gang. They force him to join their gang, but Kathirvelu refuses, and he is murdered in front of his wife. Ganga comes to perform the last rites of his father. His mother takes a vow from him that, until he takes revenge on all the four murderers of his father, he should not look at her face.


Cast

*
Jaishankar Jaishankar (12 July 1938 – 3 June 2000) was an Indian actor known for his work in Tamil cinema. He was a very popular lead actor in the 1960s and 70s. He was credited onscreen with title of ''Makkal Kalaingnar'' (people's artiste) or '' ...
as Ganga * S. A. Ashokan * Major Sundarrajan as Kathirvelu *
Nagesh Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 fil ...
* Rajakokila as Gauri * V. Nagayya *
S. N. Lakshmi Sennalkudi Narayana Lakshmi (1927 – 20 February 2012) was an Indian actress, who appeared in supporting roles, often playing roles of a mother or grandmother in films. A recipient of the state government's Kalaimamani and Kalaiselvam awards, ...
*
A. Sakunthala Arunachalam. Sakunthala (C. I. D. Sakunthala) is an Indian actress. She has filled roles as a Heroine, Item number Dancer, and Villainess in over 600 Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films. The first movie in which she performed as an act ...
*
Jayakumari Jayakumari is an Indian actress in South Indian films. She was born in 1952 and was a prominent lead actress during the 1960s and 1970s in Tamil and Malayalam films. She was noted for her glamorous roles. She has acted around 50 Malayalam movies ...
*
Pakoda Kadhar Pakoda Kadhar was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil films (Kollywood) in comedic and supportive roles. He acted in over 200 films in the Tamil language during the decades 1960s, 1970s, 1980s. He is notable for his comedian roles along with ...
* Vijayarekha


Production

''Ganga'' was produced under Indhrani Films, and directed by M. Karnan who also handled the cinematography. The story was written by Mahendran, and the dialogue by Ma. Ra, while the editing was handled by G. Kalyanasundaram.


Themes

Film historian Swarnavel Eswaran Pillai compared ''Ganga'' to an earlier Karnan film '' Kalam Vellum'' (1970) for being a Western with elements of melodrama combined, along with the protagonist's goal being to avenge a murdered family member. However, while ''Kalam Vellum'' focused on the protagonist avenging his sister, Ganga focuses on him avenging his father.


Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by
Shankar–Ganesh Shankar–Ganesh is an Indian music director duo who has worked on Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada movies for around 50 years. Career They started as assistants to Tamil music composers M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy in 1964 an ...
and the lyrics were written by
Kannadasan Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was an Indian philosopher, poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important lyricists in India. Freq ...
.


Release and reception

''Ganga'' was released on 15 January 1972, Despite emerging a commercial success, it was the last Western film in Tamil cinema until the release of ''
Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam ''Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language Western comedy film directed by Chimbu Deven, starring choreographer-turned-actor Raghava Lawrence, Padmapriya, Lakshmi Rai, and Sandhya alongside an ensemble supporting cast in ...
'' in 2010.


References


Bibliography

* * {{Cite book , last=Pillai , first=Swarnavel Eswaran , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GGKhCAAAQBAJ&q=ganga&pg=PA178 , title=The Western in the Global South , publisher=
Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...
, isbn=978-1-315-73113-1 , date=24 April 2015 , chapter=Tamil B Movie Westerns: The Global South and Genre Subversion 1972 films 1972 Western (genre) films Films directed by M. Karnan Films scored by Shankar–Ganesh Indian films about revenge Indian Western (genre) films 1970s Tamil-language films