''Ram Rajya'' (The Kingdom Of Rama) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

1967

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

religious film based on

Valmiki Valmiki (; , ) was a legendary poet who is celebrated as the traditional author of the epic ''Ramayana'', based on the attribution in the text itself. He is revered as ''Ādi Kavi'', the first poet, author of ''Ramayana'', the first epic poe ...

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

and directed by

Vijay Bhatt Vijay Bhatt (born Vrajlal Jagneshwar Bhatt; 12 May 1907 – 17 October 1993) was a producer-director-screenwriter of Hindi cinema, who made such films as '' Ram Rajya'' (1943), '' Baiju Bawra'' (1952), '' Goonj Uthi Shehnai'' (1959) and '' Hi ...

. The film was produced by Shankarbhai Bhatt. The music director was

Vasant Desai Vasant Desai (1912–1975) was an Indian film music composer, most remembered for his score in V. Shantaram films like '' Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje'' (1955), ''Do Aankhen Barah Haath'' (1957), Vijay Bhatt's '' Goonj Uthi Shehnai'' (1959), ''Samp ...

with lyrics written by

Bharat Vyas Bharat Vyas (1918–1982) was a noted Indian lyricist who wrote the songs for Hindi films in 1950s and 1960s. Biography Bharat Vyas was born in Bikaner in British India on 6 January 1918 in Pushkarna Brahmin family. He studied B.Com. at Calcutt ...

. The cinematographer was

Pravin Bhatt Pravin Bhatt (Praveen Bhatt) is an Indian film cinematographer, director and screenwriter, who has worked in Hindi cinema from 1970s to 2010s and shot most of the films directed by Mahesh Bhatt, like '' Arth'' (1982) and '' Aashiqui'' (1990) and ...

and the film starred

Bina Rai Bina Rai (13 July 1931 – 6 December 2009), sometimes referred to as Beena Rai, was an Indian actress, primarily of the black and white era of Hindi cinema. She is most known for her roles in classics such as '' Anarkali'' (1953), '' Ghunghat ...

, Kumar Sen, Badri Prasad, Kanhaiyalal,

Farida dadi Farida Dadi, also known as Farida Devi or Baby Farida, is an Indian actress in Hindi-language films and television serials. Career She started her career as a child actor in films in the 60s and was the most sought-after child actress. She ma ...

, Anil Kumar, Jay Vijay. The film was a combination of Valmiki's Ramayana, with

Tulsidas Rambola Dubey (; 11 August 1511 – 30 July 1623pp. 23–34.), popularly known as Goswami Tulsidas (), was a Vaishnavism, Vaishnava (Ramanandi Sampradaya, Ramanandi) Hinduism, Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. H ...

Ramcharitmanas ''Ramcharitmanas'' ( deva, रामचरितमानस, rāmacaritamānasa), is an epic poem in the Awadhi language, composed by the 16th-century Indian bhakti poet Tulsidas (c. 1511–1623). It has many inspirations, the primary being t ...

and Bhavbhuti's play "Uttar Ramcharit" according to the credit roll, and a remake of Bhatt's classic film of the 1940s of the same name. This time the film was in colour and instead of Shobhana Samarth, it had Bina Rai as Sita. However, as cited in "

Illustrated Weekly of India ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'' was an English-language weekly newsmagazine publication in India. It started publication in 1880 (as ''Times of India'' Weekly Edition; later renamed as ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'' in 1923) and ceased ...

", Rai's role as the "masochistic Indian woman" towards the end of Rai's career as an actress disappointed the audiences and she was unacceptable as Sita.

Plot

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

returns to

Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...

after being banished for fourteen years to the forest by his father

Dashratha Dasharatha (, IAST: Daśaratha; born Nemi) was the king of Kosala, with its capital at Ayodhya, in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Dasharatha married Kausalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. He was the father of Rama, the protagonist of the epic Ramayana, ...

on the say of his second wife

Kaikeyi Kaikeyi,(Sanskrit: कैकेयी, IAST: Kaikeyī) is a princess of Kekeya and the queen of Kosala in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Kaikeyi is the third queen and favourite consort of King Dasharatha, who ruled Kosala from its capital, A ...

. Rama's wife

Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

and his brother

Lakshmana Lakshmana (, ), also known as Laxmana, Lakhan, Saumitra, and Ramanuja, is the younger brother of Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of Shesha, the lord of serpents. Lakshmana was married to Urmila, and i ...

had accompanied him in his exile. Sita was kidnapped by Ravan, King of

Lanka Lanka (; ) is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary Rakshasa king Ravana in the epics of the ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks kn ...

, a war ensued with the death of Ravan and rescue of Sita.

in his hermitage has completed his epic

, and sends a messenger to King Rama asking permission to have it recited to him at his court. Good news arrives that Sita is expecting. However, things are set in motion when a washerwoman comes for justice as her husband throws her out of the house when her virtue is questioned as under unforeseen circumstances she spends the night with a man other than her husband. Things spiral out of control when the washerman and the public of Ayodhya question Sita's virtue following her forced captivity at Lanka. Sita has to go through a test of fire but even then the talk continues and Rama is forced to banish her to the forest. Lakshman takes her there and tells her of Rama’s intention of forsaking her. Appalled she jumps into the Ganga, but is saved by the sage Valmiki. Being pregnant, he reminds her of her duty as a queen and the need for her to provide heirs. She stays in the hutment anonymously and gives birth to twins called Luv and

Kusha Kusha () is a Chandravamsha king in Hindu mythology. He was the father of Kushanabha Kushanabha () is a king featured in Hindu texts. He is described to be the king of the Amavasu dynasty and belongs to the Chandravamsha line. He is stated to ...

. Time passes and Rama is miserable with the step he had to take. Sage

Vashishta Vasishtha (, ) is one of the oldest and revered Vedic rishis or sages, and one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis). Vasishtha is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the ''Rigveda''. Vasishtha and his family are mentioned in Rigve ...

has arranged for a

Yagna In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, ɐd͡ʒɲə ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature called Brahmanas, as well a ...

to be performed by Rama. Valmiki's Ramayana is read by the boys and they sing out the verses. The twins meet are taken by Valmiki to Ayodhya to attend the Yagna. The children are unaware of their lineage. Valmiki makes them recite the story he has written which impresses Rama but he too is unaware of who the boys are. Finally after a short war between father and sons, they are united along with Sita.

Cast

* Kumarsen *

* Badri Prasad * Gopi Krishna * Kanhaiyalal * Aruna Rai * Jeevankala * Narbada Shankar * Ved Puri * Manjari * Snehlata * Bhavna

Crew

The crew consisted of: * Director:

* Producer: Shankerbhai Bhatt * Distributors: Moonlight Film Distributors. * Editing: Pratap Dave * Music:

* Lyrics:

* Camera:

* Choreographer: Gopi Krishna * Art and set Director: Kanu Desai

Vijay Bhatt And Ramayana

Vijay Bhatt had earlier made several films based on the epic Ramayana, which included ''

Bharat Milap ''Bharat Milap'' is a Bollywood film based on Ramayana. It was released in Bollywood films of 1942, 1942. It is Ramayana from Bharata's point of view and is about the brotherhood of Lord Rama and Bharata. Remakes It was remade into two movies i ...

'' (1942), '' Ram Rajya'' (1943) and ''

Rambaan ''Rambaan'' () is a 1948 Indian Hindi-language mythological drama film directed and produced by Vijay Bhatt and written by Mohanlal Dave, with dialogue by Pandit Girish. The film starred Prem Adib as Rama and Shobhana Samarth as Sita, with C ...

'' (1948) and they had all proved successful at the box-office. Bhatt is cited by Rajadhyaksha and Willemen as stating that his "interest in Hindu fantasy was a logical extension of his Gandhian sympathies".

Soundtrack

The highlight of the soundtrack was a

Ragmala Ragmala, alternatively spelt as Raagmala or Ragamala ( Punjabi: ਰਾਗਮਾਲਾ ; pronounced rāgmālā,) is a composition of twelve verses (sixty lines) that names various raga''.'' These raga appear in the ''saroops'' of Guru Granth Sa ...

composed by music director

with lyrics by

performed by

Kathak ''Kathak'' is one of the eight major forms of Classical Indian dance, Indian classical dance. Its origin is attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern India known as ''Kathakar'' ("storyteller"), who communicated stories from the ...

dancer Gopi Krishna and actress Snehlata. Desai had a "penchant" for using Raga Malhar in songs like "Dar Laage Garje Badariya" sung by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

. According to Raju Bharatan, Vasant Desai had been chosen as a recipient for the inaugural 'Dr. Brihaspati Award", later known as the "Saraswati Award", but it was pointed out by composer

Naushad Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian composer for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the use of ...

that two of the songs from the 1967 ''Ram Rajya'' were "replicate" songs from the original ''Ram Rajya'' (1943) composed for it by Shankar Rao Vyas. The award (Saraswati Award) that year (1968) went to Naushad for the film Palki (1967). The playback singers were Lata Mangeshkar,

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice ...

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (; 1 May 1919 − 24 October 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an Indian playback singer, music director, and musician. He had a classical music background, being part of the Bhendibazaar gharana, Bhendibazaar Gh ...

Suman Kalyanpur Suman Kalyanpur (born as Suman Hemmadi; 28 January 1937) is an Indian playback singer who is most notable for her work in Hindi cinema. She recorded songs for movies in several languages besides Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Ka ...

and

Usha Timothy Usha Timothy is a veteran Bollywood playback singer. Referred to as a "Singer with a difference" She began her career in the film Himalay Ki Godmein (1965). She has sung 5,000 songs in multiple Indian languages such as Hindi, Malayalam, Punja ...

Songlist

References

External links

* {{Vijay Bhatt 1967 films 1960s Hindi-language films Hindu mythological films Films based on the Ramayana Films directed by Vijay Bhatt