‘I didn’t feel any vulgarity’

Mandakini on Ram Teri Ganga Maili’s  controversial scenes

Veteran actress 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 just 16 when she stepped in front of the camera for the film, which was Kapoor’s last directorial venture.

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.

Mandakini said Kapoor had explained the sequence to her and rejected the perception that the scene was intended to be vulgar. “I didn’t feel any vulgarity from anywhere. There was no disgusting feeling at all,” Mandakini told ANI. 

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 woh shot.”

The actress also addressed the much-discussed breastfeeding scene from the film. “There was no breastfeeding. They had picturised it so well. 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.