General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20263 min read

Ganga Ki Saugandh (गंगा की सौगन्ध)

Ganga Ki Saugandh (गंगा की सौगंध) is a 1978 Hindi-language action drama film directed and produced by Sultan Ahmed, starring Amitabh Bachchan as Jeeva, a village boy who becomes a dacoit to avenge his mother's death.¹^•² It was released in India on 10 February 1978.³

Key fact	Detail
Release	10 February 1978 (India)³
Director and producer	Sultan Ahmed, under the banner Sultan Productions, Bombay¹^•⁴
Lead cast	Amitabh Bachchan (Jeeva), Rekha (Dhaniya), Amjad Khan (Thakur Jashwant Singh)¹
Music	Kalyanji-Anandji; lyrics by Anjan; released on Polydor Records⁴
Screenwriters	Nabendu Ghosh, Asgar Mirza, Santosh Vyas, and Wajahat Mirza⁵
Language and origin	Hindi, produced in India²
IMDb rating	5.0/10 from 253 votes¹

Spoilers

Plot

The story follows Jeeva, the son of an elderly washerwoman. Thakur Jashwant Singh, the village's cruel landowner, assaults Jeeva's mother; Jeeva intervenes to protect her, but the village conspires against him and he is banished along with his mother.⁵^•⁶ After his mother's death, Jeeva returns to the village as a dreaded dacoit to take revenge on the Thakur.²

Cast and crew

Amitabh Bachchan plays Jeeva and Rekha plays Dhaniya. Amjad Khan appears as the antagonist Thakur Jashwant Singh.¹ The supporting cast includes Bindu as Jayshree, I.S. Johar as Birju Master, Pran as Kalu Chamar, Farida Jalal as Champa, Anwar Hussain as Rehmat Khan, Jeevan as Lala, Nana Palsikar, Achala Sachdev, Sulochana Latkar, Satyendra Kapoor, Mac Mohan, Jagdeep, Iftekhar, and Anju Mahendru as a courtesan.¹^•⁶

Behind the camera, Sultan Ahmed served as both director and producer, with cinematography by R.D. Mathur, editing by M.S. Shinde, and art direction by Kartik Basu.⁶^•⁷

Music

The score was composed by the duo Kalyanji-Anandji (Kalyanji Virji Shah and Anandji Virji Shah), with lyrics by Anjan and the soundtrack issued on Polydor Records.⁴^•⁶ The song list includes "Maano To Main Ganga Maa Hoon" in two parts sung by Lata Mangeshkar, "Roop Jab Aisa Mila" sung by Kishore Kumar, "Dekho Sapne" sung by Mohammed Rafi, Aarti Mukherji, and Amit Kumar, and "Toone Har Raat" sung by Lata Mangeshkar.⁸ A viewer review on the film's IMDb page singles out "Maano to main ganga maa hoon na maano to bahata paani" as the most memorable thing about the movie.¹

Runtime and availability

Sources disagree on the film's running time: IMDb, Apple TV, and Prime Video list 2 hours 22 minutes, JustWatch and FMDb list 2 hours 28 minutes, Google Play lists 145 minutes, Digit Binge lists 2 hours 40 minutes, and the Quebec film classification registry records 167 minutes.²^•⁹^•¹⁰^•⁸^•¹¹

The film has been released on home video and streaming. Apple TV lists Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd as the studio for its release, and it has been available on Prime Video, MX Player, and Tubi.²^•⁸^•¹² In 2013, trade reporting noted Bollywood interest in a remake of the film, following remakes of other Amitabh Bachchan films such as Don, Agneepath, and Zanjeer.¹³

Reception

The film holds a 5.0/10 rating on IMDb from 253 user votes.¹ A user review quoted on the IMDb page calls the movie "run of the mill stuff" but praises the performances of Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, and I.S. Johar, rating it 7/10.¹ On BookMyShow it carries a 7.5/10 user score from 11 votes.⁶

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026