Ram and Shyam

Possessing a great fortune, Ram ( Dilip Kumar ) is a timid and quiet man. Since childhood, he has been harassed by Gajendra ( Pran ), the husband of his elder sister Sulakshny. As a grown-up Ram cannot say a word across his son-in-law, he runs a factory owned by Ram and other property.

In the village nearby, he lives and works in the Shyam field ( Dilip Kumar ), like two peas in a pod similar to Rama. A brisk country girl Shanta ( Mumtaz ) runs after him, but he is completely indifferent to her. Shiam's only dream is to become an actor, but his mother Ganga strongly opposes. Brave and bullying Shiam can not resist only to her and decides to escape to the city for the sake of his dreams.

Meanwhile, Gajendra decides to marry Rama on the daughter of his business partner Ajana (Wahida Rehman ) for the sake of profit. The girl with her father comes to the bride, but she does not like shyness and timidity of the groom at all. Frustrated by the failure of his undertaking, Gajendra decides to force Rama to rewrite all his property on him and then kill him. Overheard Ram, in fear, flees the house.

In the city, Shyam meets Anjana, and she invites him to her place, confusing with Ram. Strong "Ram" she likes much more. Shiam also likes a beautiful girl.

Ram at this time, deciding to become a monk, comes to the village, where everyone takes him for Shiam. The fact that he does not recognize anyone and calls himself Ram is considered by residents of the village to be the result of clouding of reason and they conduct a rite to bring him back to memory. As a result, the exhausted Ram recognizes himself as Shyam.

Gajendra, having come to the house of Anjana, sees his “brother-in-law” and takes him home. Shyam, having learned that he, in “his” absence, began to harass his own daughter, decides to stay and change the orders in the house. He refuses to sign the papers Gajendra slips him in, cruelly beats him up and takes control of the factory. The house is preparing for the engagement of Rama with Andzhana, but on the appointed day Shyam declares that he cannot marry her.

Gajendra does not like the new order of things in the house. By chance, he learns that the real Ram now lives in the village. Stating there with his people, he captures Rama and Shantou. And after the holiday in honor of the birthday of Anjana, where Shyam came to explain her behavior to her, he announced that he was an impostor.

Shiam is arrested, but he manages to escape from custody. He comes to his mother and finds Anjana and her father there. Mister Rao is sure that Ram and Shyam are not without reason so similar, and forces the Ganges to admit that twenty-five years ago she picked up a two-year-old boy on the street and brought him up as her own. And what is really Shiam - the abducted twin brother Rama.

“Ram and Shyam” is a remake of the 1964 film in Telugu language Ramudu Bheemudu, directed by Tapi Chanakia and starring N. T. Ramo ^[2] . The original film was also retaken by a director in Tamil language called Enga Veettu Pillai with MG. Ramachandran ^[3] . Dilip Kumar, already known in Bollywood as the "King of Tragedy", thanks to his roles in the films Mela , "The Mark of Shame" and " Devdas, " decided to play a comedy after the psychiatrist's council to switch to light roles to restore emotional balance ^[4] . The initial choice for the role of Anjana was Vijayantimala , but eight days after the start of filming she left the project and Vahida Rehman took her place ^{[3] [5]} . As the second central female character, the director wanted to invite Saira Bana , but at the time Dilip Kumar was opposed to working in the same film with his wife ^[6] . Another candidate for the role was Mala Sinha , but in the end the role went to Mumtaz ^[7] . Pran , known for his negative roles, was taken as the "villain". When creating the image of Gajendra, he used blue lenses to enhance the effect, making the look more “cold” ^[3] .

All texts are written by Shakil Bandayuri , all music is written by Naushad .

Fees from rentals amounted to 2.75 crore (27.5 million rupees), the film took second place in the list of the highest-grossing films of the year and received the status of superhit ^[1] . Since the Telugu original remained obscure, “Ram and Shiam” is considered the ancestor of all subsequent Bollywood films about twins separated in childhood, including: “ Zita and Gita ” (1972) with Khemoy Malini , “Cheats” (1989) with Sridevi and Kishan and Kanhayi (1990) with Anil Kapoor ^{[3] [4]} . For the actress Mumtaz, “Ram and Shiam” marks the transition from minor roles to the main characters, and five years later she was offered the role of twins in “Zita and Gita”, which she refused ^[3] .

Filmfare Awards

• for the best male role - Dilip Kumar ^[8]
• Nomination for Best Actress - Wahida Rehman ^[9]
• Nomination for Best Supporting Actress - Mumtaz ^[9]

• “Ram and Shyam” (Eng.) On the Internet Movie Database