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

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

1967

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

religious film based on

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the wikt:harbinger, harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on ...

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

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 ''Himalay ...

. 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), ''Sampoorn ...

with lyrics written by Bharat Vyas. 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 hi ...

and the film starred Bina Rai, Kumar Sen, Badri Prasad, Kanhaiyalal, Farida dadi, Anil Kumar, Jay Vijay. The film was a combination of Valmiki's Ramayana, with

Tulsidas Tulsidas (; born Rambola Dubey; also known as Goswami Tulsidas; c.1511pp. 23–34.–1623) was a Ramanandi Vaishnava Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. He wrote several popular works in Sanskrit and Awadhi, but ...

Ramcharitmanas ''Ramcharitmanas'' ( deva, श्रीरामचरितमानस, Rāmacaritamānasa), is an epic poem in the Awadhi language, based on the ''Ramayana'', and composed by the 16th-century Indian bhakti poet Tulsidas (c. 1532–1623). This ...

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 ceasin ...

", 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 (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

returns to

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Sāketa, Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and ...

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

Dashratha Dasharatha ( Sanskrit: दशरथ, IAST: Daśaratha; born Nemi) was the king of the Kosala kingdom and a scion of the Suryavamsha dynasty in Hinduism. He ruled from this capital at Ayodhya. Dasharatha was the son of Aja and Indumati. He ...

on the say of his second wife

Kaikeyi Kaikeyi (Sanskrit: कैकेयी, IAST: Kaikeyī) is the second consort of King Dasharatha, and a queen of Ayodhya in the Hindu epic Ramayana. Out of Dasharatha's three wives, Kaikeyi exerts the most influence. Formerly the princess of Kek ...

. Rama's wife

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

and his brother

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja (). ...

had accompanied him in his exile. Sita was kidnapped by

Ravan Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and Rakshasa, rakshasi Kaik ...

, King of

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

, 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 was a Suryavansha The Solar dynasty ( IAST: Suryavaṃśa or Ravivaṃśa in Sanskrit) or the Ikshvaku dynasty was founded by the legendary king Ikshvaku.Geography of Rigvedic India, M.L. Bhargava, Lucknow 1964, pp. 15-18, 46-49, 92-98 ...

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

Vashishta Vasishtha ( sa, वसिष्ठ, IAST: ') is one of the oldest and most revered Vedic rishis or sages, and one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis). Vashistha is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the ''Rigveda''. Vashishtha an ...

has arranged for a

Yagna Yajna ( sa, यज्ञ, yajña, translit-std=IAST, sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering) refers in Hinduism to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.SG Nigal (1986), Axiological Approach to the Vedas, Northern Book ...

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 * Bina Rai * 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: Bharat Vyas * 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'' (1942), '' Ram Rajya'' (1943) and ''

Rambaan ''Rambaan'' (Rama's Arrow) is a 1948 Indian film with a mythological theme, directed by Vijay Bhatt. Made under the banner of Prakash Pictures, it had music by Shankar Rao Vyas. The story writer was Mohanlal Dave with dialogue by Pandit Girish. T ...

'' (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, Raagmala, or Ragamala (Punjabi: ਰਾਗਮਾਲਾ ; pronounced rāgmālā) a composition of twelve verses, running into sixty lines that names various ragas, which appears in most ''saroops'' of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji after the c ...

composed by music director

with lyrics by Bharat Vyas performed by

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

dancer Gopi Krishna and actress Snehlata. Desai had a "penchant" for using

Raga Malhar "Malhar" is a Hindustani classical raga. Malhar is associated with torrential rains. Besides the basic Shuddha Malhar, which was the original Malhar, several Malhar-related ragas use the Malhar signature phrase m (m)R (m)R P, including "Miyan ...

in songs like "Dar Laage Garje Badariya" sung by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

. 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 music director 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 ...

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 and musician. 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 ...

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (May 1, 1919 − October 24, 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an internationally acclaimed and celebrated Indian playback singer, music director, and a musician. As a classical vocalist, he belonged to the Bhen ...

Suman Kalyanpur Suman Kalyanpur (born as Suman Hemmadi;January 28th 1937) is an Indian playback singer, one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Her voice was often mistaken to be that of Lata Mangeshkar. Suman Kalyanpur's career st ...

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, Punjab ...

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