1972 Indian film
Seeta Aur Geeta (translation: Seeta And Geeta)[a] is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film written by Salim–Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar) and directed by Ramesh Sippy. Released in India on 3 November 1972, the film stars an ensemble cast of Hema Malini (in a double role), Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Roopesh Kumar, Manorama, Satyen Kappu, Honey Irani and Pratima Devi. The music was composed by R. D. Burman.
The story is about identical twins (portrayed by Hema Malini) who are separated at birth and grow up with different temperaments. After they meet each other as adults, they swap places (like The Prince and the Pauper). The two sisters' lovers in the film are portrayed by Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar, while Manorama portrays the villainous aunt.
The theme of the film was inspired by the 1967 blockbuster Ram Aur Shyam, which inspired Salim-Javed to write Seeta Aur Geeta.[2] Ram Aur Shyam is itself a remake of the 1964 Telugu film Ramudu Bheemudu. The film subverted the formula by having the heroine eventually become the "hero" while the male lead is in a mostly supporting role.[3] An earlier film with a similar theme was Muqabala (1942), starring Fearless Nadia.
The film became a major hit, both in India and abroad in the Soviet Union.[4] Hema Malini won her only competitive Filmfare Best Actress Award of her career, while K. Vaikunth won the Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award.[5] Malini was noted for the novelty of her role as Geeta, where she is rambunctious and sometimes violent.
The film was remade in other languages, which includes the Telugu film Ganga Manga (1973) and the Tamil film Vani Rani (1974), both starring Vanisri in the double roles.[6] The subsequent Hindi remakes of the story have been made, including Geetaa Mera Naam (1974) starring Sadhana, Jaise Ko Taisa (1973) starring Jeetendra, Chaalbaaz (1989) starring Sridevi, Kishen Kanhaiya (1990) starring Anil Kapoor, Judwaa (1997) starring Salman Khan, Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi (1998) starring Kajol, in the double roles.
Plot
The story is about twin girls, Seeta and Geeta (Hema Malini in a double role), who were both separated at birth. Seeta, the long-suffering heiress, is treated worse than a servant by her money-grubbing aunt, Kaushalya (Manorama), Kaushalya's spoilt daughter, Sheela (Honey Irani), and Kaushalya's equally cruel brother, Ranjeet (Roopesh Kumar), despite the fact that the family is living off Seeta's late parents' money. Seeta's only consolations are her meek uncle, Badrinath (Satyen Kappu), helpful younger brother and elderly, wheelchair-bound grandmother (Pratima Devi). Meanwhile, Geeta grows up to be a feisty girl raised in a slum and works as a street performer with Raka (Dharmendra), her friend and neighbour.
One day, Seeta decides life is not worthy and runs away from home to commit suicide. She is rescued but misunderstood to be Geeta and taken to Geeta's home. Meanwhile, Badrinath and Kaushalya are frantically searching for Seeta and meet Geeta. The two mistake her for Seeta and attempt to force her to come with them, but using some of her clever tricks, Geeta escapes from them and the police who have been searching for her. She then meets Ravi (Sanjeev Kumar), Seeta's prospective groom, who believes her to be Seeta as well and takes her to his home. Ravi is surprised by this "Seeta" and the Seeta he had met previously and falls in love with Geeta.
Meanwhile, the real Seeta is living at Geeta's home where she meets Raka, who is surprised by the sudden gentle nature of "Geeta", and her desire to do the housework. When Raka attempts to coax Seeta into performing, she is unable to do so, however, Raka falls in love with Seeta. Elsewhere, the real Geeta is living at Seeta's home where she realises the cruelty that Seeta has been living under and vows to teach Kaushalya and Ranjeet a lesson. She begins to set everything on a proper course and resumes control of the money and restores her grandmother to the head of the household where she belongs.
However, things take a drastic turn when Ranjeet sees the real Seeta in a marketplace and discovers the truth. As a result, Geeta's cover is blown and she is arrested by the police for impersonation, while Kaushalya and Ranjeet locate Seeta and bring her back to her life of mute slavery, abuse and confinement. Nevertheless, Raka kidnaps Geeta from prison and reveals that she is Seeta's long-lost twin sister, which leads Seeta, Geeta, Raka and Ravi to fight against Ranjeet and his henchmen and have them all arrested by the police for their crimes. In the end, in the presence of Seeta and Geeta's grandmother, Badrinath and the reformed Kaushalya and Sheela, the real Seeta gets married to Raka and the real Geeta gets married to Ravi.
Production
According to Salim Khan, one half of screenwriting duo Salim–Javed, the concept of Seeta Aur Geeta was inspired by the Dilip Kumar starrer Ram Aur Shyam (1967), but they altered the formula with twin female sisters.[2] Seeta Aur Geeta subverted the formula by having the heroine Hema Malini eventually become the "hero" while male lead Dharmendra is in a mostly supporting role.[3]
Ramesh Sippy initially wanted Nutan as Seeta and Geeta because he "saw the heroine as a mature woman with a child" but he was advised against casting a heroine who was "at a mature phase of her career when the hero, too, was getting along in age." The film was also offered to popular actress Mumtaz, who ironically starred in Ram Aur Shyam, but she refused the offer as she wasn't paid enough. Mumtaz stated in an interview that at the time, the film was offered to her, she was charging Rs 8-8.5 lakhs/film, but she was offered only Rs 2 lakhs for Seeta Aur Geeta. So she had to refuse the film.[7] According to Sippy, the film's budget cost ₹400,000[8][9] ($53,000).
Soundtrack
All the songs[10] were composed by Rahul Dev Burman and lyrics were penned by Anand Bakshi.
Reception
Box office
Domestically in India, the film grossed ₹3.5 crore[11] (US$4.61 million) in 1972.[b] Adjusted for inflation, this is equivalent to ₹465 crore in 2017.[c]
Overseas in the Soviet Union, the film grossed 13.8 million SUR[d] (US$18.21 million,[e] ₹16.03 crore)[f] in 1976.[18] Adjusted for inflation, this is equivalent to $78 million (₹578 crore) in 2017.
Worldwide, the film grossed ₹19.53 crore (US$22.82 million). Adjusted for inflation, this is equivalent to ₹1,014 crore in 2017, or ₹1,422 crore (US$180 million) in 2023.
In terms of footfalls, the film sold an estimated 33 million tickets in India and 55.2 million tickets in the Soviet Union,[14] for an estimated total of 88.2 million tickets sold worldwide.
Awards
- 20th Filmfare Awards
Series
Bohra Bros had made a television series based on this film which was aired on NDTV Imagine in 2009.[19] Coincidentally Hema Malini did a similar series on same plot called Kamini Damini which was aired on Sahara One on 2004.[20]
