Veteran actor Mandakini, who became one of the most popular faces of Hindi cinema in the 1980s, has recalled shooting the most-talked-about waterfall scene from Raj Kapoor’s Ram Teri Ganga Maili, saying she did not find anything vulgar or uncomfortable about the sequence.
Mandakini was 16-year-old when she starred in Ram Teri Ganga Maili
Mandakini was just 16 when she stepped in front of the camera for the film, which was Raj Kapoor’s last directorial venture.
Despite being a newcomer to the industry in the 1980s, Mandakini’s portrayal of Ganga left a lasting impact on audiences and established her as one of the prominent actors of her era. However, her rise to fame also brought intense public attention, with several sequences from Ram Teri Ganga Maili becoming the subject of discussion and controversy over the years.
Mandakini on waterfall scene
Revisiting those moments, Mandakini opened up about the most-talked-about waterfall sequence in the song Tujhe Bulayen Yeh Meri Bahen, in which she appeared wearing a white saree. She also spoke about the much-debated breastfeeding sequence, saying the scenes were rooted in the film’s larger message of innocence and purity rather than the way they were later perceived.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, she revealed that she was just 16 when she started shooting for the film and did not fully understand how the scenes would be perceived later. Speaking about the waterfall scene in the movie, Mandakini said Raj Kapoor had explained the sequence to her and rejected the perception that the scene was intended to be vulgar. She said the film’s central idea was purity and Ganga’s character.
“Unka tarika aesa tha ki aap unse koi sawaal hi nahi karte the..itna pyar se itna gentle jaise aapka family member aapse karwa raha ho…(He had such a gentle and affectionate way of doing things that you would not even question him, as if a family member was guiding you through it.) I didn’t feel any vulgarity from anywhere. There was no disgusting feeling at all. The whole movie was that there is no purity. They wanted to make her (Ganga) impure. But they didn’t succeed,” Mandakini said.
She added, “He (Raj Kapoor) was in front of me…thoda sa mujhe laga to maine saree ko double kar liya..unhone kaha double kar lo to maine kar liya..bas ho gaya vo shot…(I felt a little uncomfortable, so I doubled the saree. He told me to double it, so I did. That was it, the shot was done.) It was a big thing for me. Because coming from a very small place.”
‘There was no breastfeeding’
The actor also addressed the much-discussed breastfeeding scene from the film, clarifying that no actual breastfeeding occurred and that the scene was achieved through camera positioning.
“No, there was no breastfeeding. They had picturised it so well. It’s very difficult for me to explain you now. But if I explain you how it was done, you will understand,” she said.
Mandakini further explained that she was holding a baby in the scene, and the portrayal was misunderstood. “Yes, I had a baby and I held it tightly… But it wasn’t breastfeeding. That’s what I want to tell everyone,” she said.
The Dance Dance actor shared that she wore a low-cut outfit and “held the baby close to her body” in a way that, from the camera angle, gave the impression of a mother feeding her child. She argued that viewers could not know whether feeding was happening because the baby was simply positioned close to her.
She said the scene was meant to depict a mother-and-child relationship, but it was later interpreted differently.
The actor also revealed that after the success of Ram Teri Ganga Maili, some filmmakers wanted her to recreate the waterfall scene, but she refused, saying a successful film required a good story rather than just a particular scene.
“To hit, you need a very good story. Which was in Ram Teri Ganga Maili. What is shown in it? What is the treatment? What message does the director want to give you? Everything counts,” she added.
Mandakini said she never repeated the scene despite pressure and continued working in films. Following the success of Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Mandakini went on to work with several leading names of the industry, including Mithun Chakraborty and Govinda, and appeared in numerous films during her career.
