Radha Ka Sangam; Rightly forgotten?
iView Author:
Sundeep Mann
(UK)
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Radha Ka Sangam; Rightly forgotten?
What does one say about a film that turned out to be a colossal let down when it released at the box office back in 1992? A film that boasted of a stupendous soundtrack full of melody by Anu Malik, starred two of the 90’s most prominent actors, Govinda (who had just hit gold with Swarg) and Juhi Chawla (who was riding high from the hit Raju Ban Gaya Gentlemen) and a film that promised a high octane love story but yet ended up to be such a disaster, that it was removed from most cinemas within it’s first day of showing!
Kirti Kumar’s pastoral love story of reincarnation and enkindling romanticism is a film that I believe was badly bested by audiences when in actual fact there were many other films at the time which were ignominiously patched together yet raked in the moolah. At the time of it’s release I was a mere five years old and failed to understand the complexities of the tale but there was something about Radha Ka Sangam that stayed with me…be it the unorthodox climax or the lilting music that made me search high and low for this saga and re-visit it some fifteen years later.
A desolate mountain top reverberating with squalling winds brings Kamal (Govinda) to its peak who openly declares his love to a dubious Rupa (Juhi Chawla). Kamal, who without even a thought prepares to jump to his death from the scaling heights after Rupa informs him that if he can’t live without her, he can surely die within her presence. Yet time had another lesson to teach the two of them, when just before he hurtles off the cliff top, a mysterious Baba stops him, proclaiming that Kamal should not make the same mistake again.
A mistake that lies embedded in the folds of time and through flashback, Radha (Juhi Chawla) appears jolting through flower laden meadows and aquamarine streams in a small village of sublime nature where she meets and falls in love with her Shyam (Govinda) much to the angst of the village thakur and dacoits who deem Shyam as a thief to their desire.
After declarations between the two lovelorn youths of “prem hai janmo ka sangam” they eventually wed, only for Radha to face the wrath of her lecherous brother-in-law Chander (Kirti Kumar) who had once been promised to Radha. Before Radha and Shyam can fulfill the union of their bodies along with their souls, Shyam is sentenced to prison for a crime he has not committed, leaving his newly wed Radha pining with her mother-in-law (Mala Sinha) for the day when her Shyam will return to their abode.
Poverty stricken and tainted as being unlucky for her husband Radha becomes smothered with a veil of depression, a veil that only lifts when she learns that Shyam has been found innocent and will be returning home and at last the symbiosis of Radha-Shyam will take place.
The powerful tide of time overpowers everything, kingdoms fall, evil dies, relationships change, seasons wither, and the new sun rises and it is in that one moment of time that Radha gives up her life before she meets her Shyam…uttering under her last breath that the two will surely meet in another life.
When Shyam arrives home to find his Radha lifeless yet still in his enceinte, he too passes through to another world, where the two are reborn as Kamal and Rupa…and thus the sangam of Radha takes place.
So just why do I hold Radha Ka Sangam in high regard? To most it sounds like a routine love saga with a reincarnation theme but for me, I can not help but see the Raj
Kapoor-esque mould of cinema through the camera lens, which is in actual fact highly akin to Ram Teri Ganga Maili, where the female protagonist awaits her beau and faces the turbulence of society in her pining.
Kirti Kumar symbolist style of direction speaks more than any dialogues throughout the film and the subtly of certain scenes makes for thought provoking viewing. Take for instance, the scene when Radha sits gazing into space after Shyam has been taken away and a scorpion stings her, yet she remains unflinching although she is a corpse. The sting from the scorpion represents the physical pain of a human being yet she lessens this in comparison to the mental pain of her longing for her love.
Whilst in Ram Teri Ganga Maili, the water becomes a symbol of the physical journey of the lead character, Radha Ka Sangam shows the journey of how the internal growth of a persons longing reaches its pinnacle similarly through nature. The director has mirrored this thought aptly through a tree which grows just like the relationship of Radha and Shyam yet then dies once uprooted, only to be planted again and nurtured in another environment, mimicking the concept of reincarnation and the union of the same souls in another era.
Musically, Radha Ka Sangam is a soundtrack that is often ignored just like the film. Anu Malik had composed a few noteworthy soundtracks at this particular juncture of his career namely Sohni Mahiwal, Mard and Ganga Jamuna Saraswati but Radha Ka Sangam is a pure paragon of his ability to infuse melody and soul into a soundtrack. “O Radha Tere Bina” is beautifully rendered by Lata Mangeshker and Shabbir Kumar (a talent that has been criminally underused) and Kirti Kumar also shared the microphone in a decent attempt with “Do Bole Kekhe Hum To Haare Hain” alongside Lataji. Whilst at the time of the release of the soundtrack, there was controversy over the fallout between Lata and T-series who allegedly attempted to dub the songs she had recorded for the film with the voice of Anuradha Paudwal (who sung the title track “Prem Hai Janmo Ka Sangam”) it is only by God’s grace that the scintillating “Bichwua” song was saved from such blasphemy as Lata reaches amazing heights through her vocals in this particular gem.
Govinda had often tried his hand at more than just comedy in the early days of his career with films like Swarg, Bhabi, Aawargi and Karz Chukana Hai but alas the junta was only ready to accept him with his buffoonery antics of the David Dhawan ilk. Kudos to Kirti Kumar for bringing out the romantic element of Chichi in Radha Ka Sangam as he delivers an earnest performance and one wonders from watching him perform in such a role, why he did not go on to become more of a romantic hero in his primetime.
Juhi Chawla is my all time favorite actress…and whatever praise I have for her is always inadequate. The village belle was a role that Juhi took to with uttermost precision and went on to master in films like Bol Radha Bol, The Gentleman and Ghar Ki Izzat yet in Radha Ka Sangam she perhaps looks her most radiant and charming. Again, an actress who became more renowned for her chirpy giggle, Radha Ka Sangam offers a chance to see Juhi in a more serious avatar and she certainly shines. Late Divya Bharti was initially offered this role but later dropped by the director but I can not envisage anyone else other than Juhi who bought her vulnerability so effortlessly to the character of Radha.
Visually, Radha Ka Sangam is allowed to be incriminated for being so nectarous, each and every frame captures the agrarian ambience adding a simpleton feel to its charming screenplay.
To most people, Radha Ka Sangam is a film that evokes no memories…because it is a film that most deem worthy of forgetting. I am not stating that it is a masterpiece of a film by any means…I however view it as a film that has resisted staling like many of the films from the early 90s…there is no forced comedy, no cringe worthy dance routines and holds a theme that still remains open for a lot of debate. I still can’t fathom as to why it was received so coldly, maybe the reincarnation theme was too hard to digest for audiences, maybe it didn’t offer the ingredients of a Masala hungry viewers…but whatever it was, Kirti Kumar must have sold out to what he thought audiences wanted after this disaster as his remaining filmography leaves a lot to be desired.
“The entire world continues coming and going in reincarnation” (Sri Guru Granth Sahib) …much like cinema, some of it leaving its mark unexplainably, like Radha Ka Sangam did for me but for few others.
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Abhay Deol
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Anish Kuruvilla
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Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
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Radha Ka Sangam cant be forgotten for the hype it created and a disappointing end product… The biggest villain of the film was Kirti Kumar, a man who was not even eligible to be 3rd AD in that film and was in-charge (and finally responsible for the disaster called Radha Ka Sangam.. rightly)
He was not even a good sidekick to brother Govinda (in other disasters like Mera Lahu.. only reasonable attempt of KK at film making was remaking “Witness” in “Hatya”)
>
By the time the ending came, I was wishing the hero and heroine to kill themselves. What is this guy on?
@pavan…
No idea…I only know that there was a track called Pinjara Banaya Chandi Ka on the soundtrack which wasn’t included…you could give another clue perhaps?
@Mo
I just dont think it was as bad as it was made out to be…when there were some really dreadful films a lot worse than this one in that year…and this was one that I suppose was the “Saawariya” of that time which ended up being a huge let down…
Either way like I said I was just 5 when the film released and the images of it stayed with me…maybe that’s the only reason why I dont hate it as much as others.
@Pavan,: the film was Dobara, released in 2004?
“o radha tere bina tera shyam hai aadha”.
same thing happened to another Juhi chawla starrer “mere sajna saath nibhana” with Mithunda, Dir: K.C. Bokadia. it created huge hype and when released result was super flop.:d/:d/:d/:d/
I’d say N Chandra’s Yugandhar was also a similar example.
I loved Sajna Saath Nibhana at the time, but can’t remeber it much now. I remember Radha Ka Sangam though, so there must have been something there in the movie….
What a super movie!
Loved it!
This movie sums up most of my teenage years, along with ‘Lamhe’, ‘Chandni’ etc.
Govinda and Juhi are fantastic performers!
Even today, they are the lifeline of the films they star in.
But lets not forget Mala Sinha.
Terrific actress!
Well done Kirti Kumar, I say.
The film has atmosphere.
And the music? Arre wah, wah, wah!
Nice one Sunny!
I agree everything you’ve said about this film. I was 9 years old when it first came out on TV, my dad was recording every Indian film he could find. So even now I have a dubbed version of this film as a VHS tape
The songs are beautiful, the actors are great, I have always admired Govinda and Juhi and spent a lifetime to find a love like that. This film has a very special place in my heart and is probably the only thing I like about Indian movies (Awara is an exceptioning). Anyways, I’d like to find a subtitled version of it and if you can help me on that, I’d appriciate it. Thanks from now.
And it’s so nice to see that somebody shares the same feeling with me
Have a good year.
u seem to have a lot of free time !!! pls put it to better use… I dont think Govinda even remembers this movie…!!
The Song “O Radha Tere Bina” is the highlight of the movie….. awesome song and Very well sung by Shabbir kumar and Lata mangeshkar.