Seeta Aur Geeta

Seeta Aur Geeta (translation: Seeta And Geeta)[lower-alpha 1] is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film, written by Salim–Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar) and directed by Ramesh Sippy. The film stars an ensemble cast of Hema Malini (in a dual role), Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Roopesh Kumar, Manorama, Satyen Kappu, Honey Irani, Pratima Devi, Alankar Joshi and Master Ravi with music composed by R.D. Burman.

Seeta Aur Geeta
Film poster
Directed byRamesh Sippy
Written bySalim–Javed
Produced byG. P. Sippy
StarringHema Malini
Dharmendra
Sanjeev Kumar
Roopesh Kumar
Manorama
Satyen Kappu
Honey Irani
Pratima Devi
Alankar Joshi
Master Ravi
CinematographyK. Vaikunth
Edited byM. S. Shinde
Music byR. D. Burman
Release date
3 November 1972 (1972-11-03)
Running time
162 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi[1]
Budget₹4,000,000 ($53,000)
Box officeest. ₹19.53 crore ($22.82 million)

The story is about identical twins (played 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' partners in the film are played by Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar, while Manorama plays the villainous aunt.

The theme of the film was inspired by Ram Aur Shyam (1967), 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 dual roles.[6] Subsequent Hindi remakes of the story have been made, including Geeta Mera Naam starring Sadhana Shivdasani, Jaise Ko Taisa starring Jeetendra, ChaalBaaz starring Sridevi, Kishen Kanhaiya starring Anil Kapoor, Judwaa starring Salman Khan, Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi starring Kajol, in the dual roles.

Plot

Seeta and Geeta (Hema Malini in a dual role) are twin girls who were separated at birth. The long-suffering heiress Seeta is treated worse than a servant by her abusive, money-grubbing aunt Kaushalya (Manorama) and her equally cruel brother Ranjeet (Roopesh Kumar), despite the fact that the family is living off her late parents' money. Seeta's only consolations are her meek uncle Badrinath (Satyen Kappu), old wheelchair-bound grandmother (Pratima Devi) and helpful younger brother (Alankar Joshi). Meanwhile, the feisty Geeta is raised in a poor neighbourhood and is a gutsy street performer.

One day, Seeta decides life is not worthy and runs away from home to commit suicide. She is rescued but is mistaken for her identical twin Geeta and is taken to Geeta's home. Meanwhile, Kaushalya and Badrinath are frantically searching for Seeta and find Geeta. They mistake her for her identical twin Seeta and attempt to force her to go 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), the prospective groom for Seeta and goes home with him, although he also mistakes her for Seeta. Ravi is surprised by this "Seeta" and the Seeta he had met previously.

After ending up at Seeta's house, Geeta realises the cruelty that she has been living under and vows to teach Kaushalya and Ranjeet a lesson for the sake of her grandmother and brother. Meanwhile, the real Seeta is living in Geeta's house where she meets Raka (Dharmendra), Geeta's friend and fellow performer. Raka is also surprised by the sudden gentle nature of "Geeta" and her desire to do the housework. Geeta's foster mother too has attributed Seeta's new docile attitude to shock. When Raka tries to coax Seeta into performing, she is unable to do so. Amidst all this, Raka falls in love with Seeta.

Elsewhere, Ravi falls in love with the real Geeta as well. At home, Geeta begins to set everything on a proper course with the help of her brother. She 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 comes to visit and sees the real Seeta in a marketplace. He follows her and discovers the truth, which leads to a showdown in the villains' den and then marriage.

Cast
  • Hema Malini in a dual role as twin girls Seeta and Geeta
  • Dharmendra as Raka
  • Sanjeev Kumar as Ravi
  • Manorama as Kaushalya (Seeta and Geeta's paternal aunt)
  • Satyen Kappu as Badrinath (Seeta and Geeta's paternal uncle)
  • Roopesh Kumar as Ranjeet (Kaushalya's brother)
  • Master Ravi as Jhumroo / Cheena (Raka's friend)
  • Alankar Joshi as Seeta and Geeta's younger brother
  • Honey Irani as Sheela (Kaushalya and Badrinath's daughter)
  • Pratima Devi as Dadi Maa (Seeta and Geeta's paternal grandmother)
  • Kamal Kapoor as Ravi's father
  • Ratnamala as Ravi's mother
  • Radhika Rani as Leela (Geeta's foster mother)
  • Karan Dewan as Property Lawyer Gupta
  • Keshav Rana as Inspector Rana
  • M. B. Shetty as Ranjeet's henchman
  • Dulari as Seeta and Geeta's late mother (Special Appearance)
  • Abhi Bhattacharya as Seeta and Geeta's late father (Special Appearance)
  • Asrani as Laughing Doctor (Special Appearance)
  • Asit Sen as Special Appearance

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.

#SongSinger(s)DurationNotes
1 "Arey Zindagi Hai Khel" Manna Dey, Asha Bhosle 04:43 Picturised on Hema Malini as Geeta and Dharmendra
2 "O Saathi Chal" Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle 04:29 Picturised on Hema Malini and Sanjeev Kumar
3 "Koi Ladki Mujhe Kal Raat" Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar 04:20 Picturised on Hema Malini as Geeta and Sanjeev Kumar
4 "Haan Ji Haan Maine Sharaab" Lata Mangeshkar 05:26 Picturised on Hema Malini as Geeta
5 "Abhi to Haath Mein Jaam" Manna Dey 05:31 Picturised on Dharmendra

Reception

Box office

Domestically in India, the film grossed ₹3.5 crore[11] (US$4.61 million) in 1972.[lower-alpha 2] Adjusted for inflation, this is equivalent to ₹465 crore in 2017.[lower-alpha 3]

Overseas in the Soviet Union, the film grossed 13.8 million SUR[lower-alpha 4] (US$18.21 million,[lower-alpha 5] ₹16.03 crore)[lower-alpha 6] 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[lower-alpha 7] 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
CategoryNomineeResult
Best ActressHema MaliniWon
Best CinematographerP. VaikunthWon

Series
Main article: Seeta Aur Geeta (TV 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]

Notes
  1. An obvious allusion to goddess Sita, who is an epitome of simplicity and virtue. Of the two characters, it is Seeta, who is simple and innocent. The film is an exact gender counterpart of Ram Aur Shyam, with Seeta displaying the same innocence and simplicity as Ram Shows in the earlier film [like God Rama]. The naming of the characters Ram and Seeta is thus very clever and is not merely a co-incidence; both Rama and Sita were consorts. The counterparts in both films -Shyam and Geeta- are seen fighting the evil
  2. 7.5945 Indian rupees per US dollar in 1972[12]
  3. Inflation rate from 1993 to 2017: 21.38 times
    • Aankhen's domestic nett of ₹12.845 crore in 1993 equivalent to ₹274.584584 crore in 2017.[13]
  4. 55.2 million tickets sold,[14] average ticket price of 25 kopecks[15]
  5. 0.758 Soviet rubles per US dollar in 1976[16]
  6. 8.804 Indian rupees per US dollar in 1976[17]
  7. See List of highest-grossing films in India § Highest-grossing films by year

References
  1. Aḵẖtar, Jāvīd; Kabir, Nasreen Munni (2002). Talking Films: Conversations on Hindi Cinema with Javed Akhtar. Oxford University Press. p. 49. ISBN 9780195664621. JA: I write dialogue in Urdu, but the action and descriptions are in English. Then an assistant transcribes the Urdu dialogue into Devnagari because most people read Hindi. But I write in Urdu.
  2. "Seeta Aur Geeta was inspired: Salim Khan". Mid-Day. 28 March 2013.
  3. Chintamani, Gautam (25 October 2015). "The brilliance of Salim-Javed lies not just in what they said, but how they said it". Scroll.
  4. Singh, Prabhat (18 October 2016). "Hardly a stranger in Moscow". The Hindu. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  5. Dhirad, Sandeep (2006). "Filmfare Nominees and Winner" (PDF). deep750.googlepages.com. p. 35.
  6. http://www.ghantasala.info/tfs/cdata0872.html
  7. Mumtaz Interview: Rajesh Khanna-Anju Mahendroo BREAK-UP | Feroz Khan | Dev Anand on YouTube
  8. Rangan, Baradwaj (5 October 2013). "The man behind Gabbar - The Hindu". The Hindu.
  9. "The making of a dream - KOCH - The Hindu". The Hindu. 16 March 2007.
  10. "Seeta Aur Geeta : Lyrics and video of Songs from the Movie Seeta Aur Geeta (1972)". HindiGeetMala.
  11. "Box Office 1972". Box Office India. 20 October 2013. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013.
  12. "Pacific Exchange Rate Service" (PDF). UBC Sauder School of Business. University of British Columbia. p. 3. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  13. "Top Adjusted Nett Grossers 1993". Box Office India. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  14. Indian Films in Soviet Cinemas: The Culture of Movie-going After Stalin, page 211, Indiana University Press, 2005
  15. Moscow Prime Time: How the Soviet Union Built the Media Empire that Lost the Cultural Cold War, page 48, Cornell University Press, 2011
  16. "Archive". Central Bank of Russia. 1992.
  17. "Reserve Bank of India - Publications".
  18. Sergey Kudryavtsev (3 August 2008). "Зарубежные популярные фильмы в советском кинопрокате (Индия)".
  19. "Seeta Aur Geeta hit home - DELI - The Hindu". The Hindu. 28 May 2009.
  20. http://www.thehindu.com/mp/2004/12/02/stories/2004120200600200.htm
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