Seeta Aur Geeta

Seeta Aur Geeta (translation: Seeta And Geeta) is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film, written by Salim–Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar) and directed by Ramesh Sippy. The film stars an ensemble cast of Hema Malini (in a dual role), Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Roopesh Kumar, Manorama, Satyen Kappu, Honey Irani, Pratima Devi, Alankar Joshi and Master Ravi with music composed by R.D. Burman. The story is about identical twins (played by Hema Malini) who are separated at birth and grow up with different temperaments. After they meet each other as adults, they swap places (like The Prince and the Pauper). The two sisters' partners in the film are played by Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar, while Manorama plays the villainous aunt. The theme of the film was inspired by Ram Aur Shyam (1967), which inspired Salim-Javed to write Seeta Aur Geeta. Ram Aur Shyam is itself a remake of the 1964 Telugu film Ramudu Bheemudu. The film subverted the formula by having the heroine eventually become the "hero" while the male lead is in a mostly supporting role. An earlier film with a similar theme was Muqabala (1942), starring Fearless Nadia. The film became a major hit, both in India and abroad in the Soviet Union. Hema Malini won her only competitive Filmfare Best Actress Award of her career, while K. Vaikunth won the Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award. Malini was noted for the novelty of her role as Geeta, where she is rambunctious and sometimes violent.