Sampoorna Ramayana (1961)

This is the story of Lord Ram and his years spent in exile with his wife and brother, and also chronicles the end of the demon king Ravan and his family.

Director:

Babubhai Mistry (as Babubhai Mistri)

Writers:

Madhur (story), C.K. Mast (dialogue)

Stars:

Mahipal, Anita Guha, Sulochana Latkar

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mahipal	...	Ram
Anita Guha	...	Seeta
Sulochana Latkar	...	Kaikayi
Lalita Pawar	...	Manthara
Helen	...	Suparnakha
Achala Sachdev	...	Kaushalya
Krishna Kumari
Raj Kumar
Anand Kumar
Uma Dutt
Badri Prasad
B.M. Vyas
Paul Sharma	...	(as Pal Sharma)
Sushil Kumar
Shree Bhagwan	...	(as Shribhagwan)

Storyline

In Ayodhya there are festivities all over as the day has arrived when Raja Dashrath will be crowning his eldest son, Bhagwan Shri Ram, as the future King. But there is sorrow and anger in one part - that being with Rani Kaykayee - one of three wives of Raja Dashrath, who wants her son, Bharat, to be crowned King. Her laments and complaints make Dashrath give way, and she also makes him promise to banish Ramji from 14 years. Ramji accepts his step-mothers conditions, and sets out of Ayodha, with his wife, Seeta, and younger brother, Lakshman. Watch how the beginning of this journey is fated to bring the end of the tyrannical Raja Ravan, and his rule on Lanka.

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Plot Keywords:

demon | 

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Genres:

Drama | Adventure | Action | Fantasy

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The text following the English language "A Golden Chapter from the Glorious Heritage of India" (at the end of the credits before the movie begins) translates as : "With great faith and humbleness, we present "Sampurna Ramayan" at your service, but with this plea ! That the greatness of Lord Ram is impossible to convey in many movies let alone one ! We begin the film with the marriage of Sita..."

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Soundtracks

Ham Ramchandra Ki Chandrakala Mein Bhi
Lyrics by Bharat Vyas
Music by Vasant Desai
Sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle

User Reviews

Indian film that tells a fascinating story

Sampoorna Ramayana (1961) is an Indian movie that was directed by Babubhai Mistry. The film is based on the written Ramayana, an epic tale of Lord Rama who is an avatar of Vishnu, the Preserver. His wife, Sita, is an avatar of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth. Sita traditionally has been considered the paragon of virtues for Hindu women. She is known for her dedication, self-sacrifice, courage, and purity.

The actor who plays Ram, Mahipal, was a well known star in 1961. However, Anita Guha, who portrays Sita, was virtually unknown until she starred in this movie. The movie was extremely popular, and she became famous throughout India.

Even the DVD cover refers to the Ramayana as "mythology." I think this stems from our Judeo-Christian culture, which regards our stories as religion, and the stories of other cultures as myth. (That's why we say Greek myths or Norse myths.) The Ramayan is based on Hindu religious tradition. It is not a myth to Hindus.

What's interesting is that this religious story is full of colorful scenes, epic battles, romance, and tragedy. It's a truly fascinating account that includes a Monkey King and a demon among the characters.

In 1961 the film was probably state of the art for Indian cinema. However, the production values and acting style appear very old-fashioned almost 60 years later. What is not old-fashioned is the great music. Indian actors don't sing movie songs. These are dubbed by professional singers. Two songs in this movie are sung by Lata Mangeshkar, who is the most famous Indian film vocalist. I learned that these two songs are still popular today. (Believe it or not, we heard Lata in performance in Toronto in the 1980's. She's great.)

This isn't a film I can recommend casually to IMDb viewers. Some people will find it too old fashioned, too long, or both. Indian audiences probably will like it more than U.S. audiences. Still, it has its own niche in film history, and you might enjoy it.

We saw Ramayana on DVD, where it worked well. I suggest that you give it a try. If you don't like it, you can always hit eject.

Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Company Credits

Production Co:

Basant Pictures, Wadia Brothers Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

183 min

Color:

Color (Gevacolor)