Sangam (1964)

Interesting facts

• Filmed in: Switzerland and Paris

Sangam (transl. Confluence) is a 1964 Indian romantic musical drama film directed, produced and edited by Raj Kapoor at R. K. Studios, written by Inder Raj Anand, and distributed by R. K. Films with Mehboob Studio and Filmistan. It stars Raj Kapoor, Vyjayanthimala and Rajendra Kumar in lead roles, along with Iftekhar, Raj Mehra, Nana Palsikar, Lalita Pawar, Achala Sachdev, Hari Shivdasani in supporting roles. It tells the story of a pilot Sundar (Kapoor), who upon returning home from war after being assumed dead, weds the woman Radha (Vyjayanthimala) he had long loved, unaware that she had been planning to marry his best friend Gopal (Kumar).

Production

In the late 1940s, Raj Kapoor planned to launch a film under the title of Gharonda with Dilip Kumar, Nargis and himself in the lead playing the central characters. The story was penned by Inder Raj Anand during the making of Kapoor's first directorial film, Aag (1948). However, the film was postponed for several reasons and was in development hell until 1962, when it was titled as Sangam, with new cast and crew.

Initially, Kapoor approached Dilip Kumar to play the role of Gopal Verma. Kumar agreed to play either one of the two male roles, on the condition that he be given the right to edit the final copy of the film. Since Kapoor could not accept Kumar's condition, he then approached Dev Anand and offered him the choice of either one of the male leads. Anand also declined the film, citing call sheet problems as the reason.

During filming, Raj Kapoor took the help of the Indian Air Force in the shooting of the Air Force scenes. This was also Raj Kapoor's first complete film in colour.

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