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Indian Express
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Made on a tenth of its budget, this mythological film faced off against Sholay's tsunami; lead actor observed ‘vrat' during filming
This week marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most celebrated films of Indian cinema of all time – Sholay. Starring some of the biggest names of Indian cinema of the 1970s, Sholay became an iconic film for Bollywood, so much so that even 50 years later, the film is studied in many film schools around the world. But, back when Sholay released in 1975, box office collections of a film's first weekend didn't lock its fate. And in the case of Sholay, the money started trickling in a little later but even when it did and Sholay's tsunami took over Indian cinemas, there was one film that stood its ground. It was the unassuming Jai Santoshi Maa that was made at 1/10th of Sholay's budget, and ended up stealing Sholay's thunder, at least at the time of its release. In very simple terms, Jai Santoshi Maa was to Sholay was Mahavatar Narsimha was to Saiyaara. Made at a much lesser budget, the film managed to pull in crowds even while the entire world was queuing up for the mainstream Bollywood film. Like Mahavatar Narsimha, Jai Santoshi Maa was a mythological film filled with religious songs, a story that sounded like a folk tale requiring a ton of suspension of disbelief and some age-old bhakti that swayed the masses in a way that they would take off their footwear outside the cinema halls. Watching Jai Santoshi Maa wasn't just about going to the movies anymore, it was a holy activity. ALSO READ | Abused by mother, Bollywood's biggest child star would be denied food after slaving all day, danced for money on stage; no one from Bollywood attended her funeral As per a report by India Today, Jai Santoshi Maa was made on a modest budget of Rs 30 lakh (over the years, many have reported the budget to be anywhere from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 30 lakh), as opposed to Sholay's massive budget of Rs 3 crore. The film was produced by a lesser-known producer named Satram Rohra, who had just made a few Sindhi films until then while makers of Sholay had delivered hits like Seeta Aur Geeta, Haathi Mere Saathi, Andaz, among others. The star cast of the film included Bharat Bhushan who had tasted stardom in the 1950s with films like Baiju Bawra, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Mirza Ghalib, but had fallen off Bollywood's star wagon by the 1970s. The film also starred Anita Guha, who had appeared in smaller roles in films like Aradhana, Anuraag, Nagin; and Kanan Kaushal. The names on the poster of Sholay were enough to pull people in but that wasn't the case with Jai Santoshi Maa, and many at the time believed that the film was blessed by the divine since it was actually competing with an A-list star vehicle. Anita Guha, in a chat with Rediff in 2006, shared that when she started shooting for the film, she accidentally did not eat or drink anything through the day. When the day's shoot went well, she decided to continue fasting until she finished the film. 'I still remember the first day of shooting. I hadn't eaten breakfast, assuming I would eat something after arriving at the sets. But, as the day went by, I was so busy that I completely forgot to eat. The director asked me to have a bite, but I couldn't because I was in costume. I decided to eat after the shot. When we finished, I realised I had not eaten the entire day. From that point, every time I played the character, I would fast,' she shared. Unlike Sholay, Jai Santoshi Maa addressed a different crowd and experts at the time noted that a major chunk of this film's audience was women. Even in 2025, it is largely accepted that men make up a bigger percentage of the cinema-going audience, which eventually influences the kind of films that are successful, and affects the kind of films that are green-lit by the studios. Back in 1975, the idea of women getting out of the house to catch the latest film was strictly restricted to tiny urban centers. But when Jai Santoshi Maa released, that culture saw a significant shift as believers of the goddess, mainly women, started attending the shows with their children. Film analyst Dilip Thakur, in an earlier chat with The Times of India, shared that separate shows would be organised for women and children on Saturdays. It honestly sounds like a religious concert in a theatre, and women were inf or it. 'Amid the craze of Sholay, the only film to stand its ground was Jai Santoshi Maa,' he said. While Jai Santoshi Maa had a good run at the time of its release, the film was eventually forgotten. 50 years later, as the world celebrates Sholay's grand anniversary, Jai Santoshi Maa's biggest claim to fame is that it was once ranked second to the most successful film that Indian cinema had ever seen.
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
When theatres became temples, and a movie became a marvel
Anita Guha played the film's title role In the summer of 1975, filmgoers in Arrah, a small town in central Bihar, would often witness an unlikely spectacle outside their local Sapna cinema. A crowd of eager, chaperoned women — many of them elderly — would arrive in buses, tongas, indeed any vehicle, including the occasional bullock cart, from nearby villages and kasbahs. Most would appear to be first timers at a cinema. Inside the auditorium, many would take off their slippers by the aisle — a few were barefoot anyway — and watch the drama unfold on screen with awe and reverence. It was as if they were attending a satsang, or, a religious congregation. ' Jai Santoshi Maa ' wasn't just a devotional movie for them; it was to be a life-influencer. What happened in Arrah was repeated for months in hundreds of tiny towns and puny mofussils across large swathes of India. The film, directed by debutant Vijay Sharma , was released on May 30, four weeks before the draconian Emergency was imposed. Sholay hit the screens on Independence Day. But nothing could stop the march of the frugally budgeted movie where the audience 'showered coins, petals and rice at the screen in appreciation'. There's more. In its 1975 annual report, the Trade Guide rated both 'Sholay' and ' Jai Santoshi Maa' as blockbusters, ahead of 'Deewar' . The movie celebrated jubilee, both gold and silver, in multiple cities. In Arrah, 'Sholay' was shown for eight weeks. 'Jai Santoshi Maa' ran for 16 weeks, a record for the town. Film Information magazine noted that an extra early morning show was screened at '9am' in Malad, Bombay, to accommodate 'the ladies'. Simply put, 'Jai Santoshi Maa' was a phenomenon. Even after five years, the film would draw houseful crowds on re-runs. It wasn't just the cash returns. Since the silent era, devotional movies enjoyed a constant output in Bombay's cinema bazaar till the 1960s. The convent-educated urban Indian may have scoffed at them, but the genre enjoyed a faithful following among the non-elite. No surprise, the opening credits were written in Hindi, not English, which was the norm. But in the 1970s, the devotional genre took a backseat. Output declined. Barring the modestly successful, 'Sampoorna Ramayan' (1973), films flopped. 'Jai Santoshi Maa', produced by Satram Rohra, breathed life into the waning genre. The movie's super success prompted the launch of 30 films starting with 'Jai', wrote Raju Bharatan in a summary of 1975's Hindi films in The Illustrated Weekly of India. However, few were completed, as subsequent records show. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Montecristi: Un segundo ingreso para ecuatorianos: prueba Amazon CFD (Inicia hoy). Empezar ahora Registrarse Undo The film's socio-religious impact has been far more lasting. Australian art historian Michael Brand, who produced a detailed paper on Santoshi Mata booklets in 1982, writes that 'it is fairly certain that Santoshi Mata, the Goddess of Contentment, emerged during the 1950s or early 1960s'. It would be equally correct that the movie's popularity ensured that the little-known goddess, Lord Ganesh's daughter, was more worshipped than ever before. An impressive Shri Santoshi Mata Mandir, with a white marble floor, is located in West Delhi's Hari Nagar area . Patron-organiser Amit Saxena says that in the early 1970s, the temple functioned from a small hut. 'The large mandir that you see today was built in 1981,' he says. In 1981, noted anthropologist Veena Das wrote how Santoshi Ma temples proliferated after the movie's success. Not only were new temples dedicated to Santoshi Ma, but abandoned temples to goddesses like Shitala were also reconsecrated in her name. This, she wrote, happened 'not only in metropolitan cities but also in pilgrim cities like Varanasi'. Saxena has an explanation: 'After watching the film, many bhakts wanted to visit a Santoshi Mata mandir to express their devotion, to do fasting rituals or just sit there to pay obeisance. That's why so many mandirs came up at that time.' He further says, 'The Goddess of Contentment, Santoshi Mata, tells us not to hanker after worldly possessions. I feel that in today's materialistic world, this also attracts people.' According to Google Maps, Delhi has at least 30 Santoshi Mata temples now. In his article, art historian Brand writes that the goddess 'is mainly, though certainly not exclusively, worshipped by women of the lower middle-income group'. Temple volunteers now say the devotees now belong to every stratum. Outside the Hari Nagar temple, one notices men in swank sedans stop their vehicle, fold their hands and bow their heads before driving away. 'Over the years, the temple has been visited by various dignitaries: Dr Manmohan Singh during his finance minister days, Sheila Dixit, Sushma Swaraj, Kiran Bedi and Gen V K Singh,' Saxena says. About 200 devotees visit the temple every day. On Friday, when many of them fast, the number shoots up to roughly 2,000. 'The film's bhajan, 'Karti hoon tumhara vrat main, sweekar karo ma' (singer: Usha Mangeshkar ), is like an anthem for the worshippers. It is played every Friday,' says Saxena. During Navratras, the mandir is open 24x7, attracting about 10,000 devotees each day. Songs were the highlights of the 1975 movie. Written by Kavi Pradeep, who later received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, and composed by C Arjun, who delivered the most popular tunes of his career, the tracks became chartbusters. The film's records were often played on street squares in times when music was largely enjoyed collectively, not individually. 'Main to aarti utaroon re (singer: Usha Mangeshkar)' finished third in Binaca Geetmala in 1976. This was a rare film where the youngest of the Mangeshkar sisters got to sing three solos, the climactic 'Madad karo heyy' being the third. 'Yahan waha jahan tahan', sung separately by both Mahendra Kapoor and Pradeep, also made it to the popular radio show's charts. 'The songs were even heard in Australia on All India Radio's overseas service,' writes Brand. 'Jai Santoshi Maa' is plotted around the trials and tribulations of a young couple. Satyawati (Kanan Kaushal) and her husband (Ashish Kumar) are both devotees of the goddess. Satyawati faces a multitude of sorrows, which she overcomes with the blessings of her protector and benefactor. In the movie, she is asked by 'Devrishi' Narad — played by Mahipal, the famous actor of mythologicals — to undertake vrat (a ritual that includes fasting) on Fridays. She does so on 16 consecutive Fridays ( solah shukrawar ) and makes the humble offering of gud-chana (jaggery and black gram) to Santoshi Mata. Philip Lutgendorf, professor emeritus of Hindi and Modern Indian Studies, University of Iowa, says that the Friday 'vrat' ritual was already becoming popular by word of mouth, but the film dramatically featured and encouraged it. 'Making a simple, inexpensive 'vrat' the centerpiece of religious practice in the film was a remarkable move on the filmmaker's part,' says Lutgendorf, who has written extensively on the film. Ajay Kishan, who has a puja items stall near the West Delhi temple, sells at least 50 packs of gud-chana , priced at Rs 10, every Friday. 'About 10 temporary stalls come up that day,' he says. Years after the release of 'Jai Santoshi Maa', worshippers of the Goddess of Contentment continue to grow. And that includes on the web. The film has been viewed 24 million times on YouTube. DID YOU KNOW? Mahipal, Manher Desai and Trilok Kapoor were major stars in devotionals in the 1950s and 1960s Bharat Bhushan , who won a Filmfare award for his role in 'Chaitanya Mahaprabhu', also acted in several socio-religious movies. All four performed as character actors in 'Jai Santoshi Maa'.
