Top 5 Mythological Movies of Bollywood
Movies with a mythological and religious focus are welcome by Indians and become favourites of the masses of our beloved country though in these modern times, the trend is changing. Because of the changing times, mythological movies though an attraction to many, do not easily find enough budget or technical excellence for bringing them into existence.
Here five of Bollywood’s mythological movies are briefly appraised.
1. Har Har Gange
Har Har Gange, the film was released in 1979. It was written and directed by Babubhai Mistry. He is considered the king of Hindi mythological films. The star actors were Ashish Kumar, Neera and Anjana Mumtaz. It is a story of the goddess sisters Uma and Ganga who are sent to earth only to destroy sin. There is a lot of mythology interwoven in the movie. The story is from Skanda Puran and includes several stories such as Bhagirath from where Ganga descended, Kartikeya’s and Ganesh’s birth, Daksha Yagna and of course slaying of Taraksur.
2. Hanuman Vijay
Hanuman Vijay, the movie was also directed by Babubhai Mistry and was released in 1974. It starred Ashish Kumar, Hercules and Kanan Kaushal. The story is taken from Krittivasa Ramayan, a Bengali obscure epic. It highlights a little-known incident of Ram and Laxman; how they were kidnapped by Ahivaran, a powerful sorcerer after they were put under his custody by Ravan. When Hanuman comes to know about it, he goes to Patal, where the two are kept captives to be sacrificed to goddess Kamaksha. With the help of his allies, he saves them and brings them back. The film has plenty of songs and is very entertaining.
3. Sita Swayamvar
The director of the film was Bapu. The dialogues of the film were written by S.N. Sinha and the lyrics were written by P.L. Santoshi. It was released in 1976 starring Ravi Kumar and Jayapradha in the leading roles with Satyanarayana Kaikala as supporting actor. The story is taken from Ranganatha Ramayana, a variant epic and is about the wedding of Rama and Sita. This film was originally shot in Telegu and dubbed in Hindi and is poetry set to music. Therefore, even today, the film reigns amongst all films of Bollywood as poetry on screen.
4. Shri Ram Vanvas
It is actually a continuation of the movie Sita Swayamvar but does not have the musical display; it is more of a drama than poetry. In this movie,. Rama is crowned the king of Ayodhya, and Sita its queen. The story is written by Valmiki and directed by Kamalakara Kameshwara Rao. The producer was Subha Rao P. The film was released in 1977 starring Satyanarayana Kailakala, Ravi Kumar and Jayapradha in the leading roles.
5. Gopal Krishna
Released in 1979, the film was directed by Vijay Sharma. The leading roles were played by Sachin, Zarina Wahab and Manher Desai. The story is based on Bhagwat Puran and is the best among movies which depict Krishna’s childhood activities. Ravindra Jain made the movie more memorable by its stellar soundtrack. Sachin did a superb acting as Krishna.
