Gunga Jumna is a great film. One of the finest films to come out of Bollywood. A profound, yet poignant cogitation on the inevitable yet painful march of civilizational progress. A scathing yet sympathetic criticism of Oriental country life - its dirt, its poverty, its intellectual vacuity, its tribalism and most importantly its poor grasp of morality.
The movie plot is hackneyed as it deals with the clash between two brothers who love each other and yet are so very different from each other. But the ideas behind the hackneyed storyline are immortal and perennially relevant. As long as humanity survives people will still need to grapple with seemingly insoluble dichotomies. Dichotomies like civilization vs barbarism, reason vs emotion, short-termism vs long-termism, individualism vs tribalism.
Movies like Gunga Jumna will continue to guide humanity with their immaculate sense of morality and faith in western values amidst all the short-term pain and wild emotion engendered by civilizational clashes.
The movie plot is hackneyed as it deals with the clash between two brothers who love each other and yet are so very different from each other. But the ideas behind the hackneyed storyline are immortal and perennially relevant. As long as humanity survives people will still need to grapple with seemingly insoluble dichotomies. Dichotomies like civilization vs barbarism, reason vs emotion, short-termism vs long-termism, individualism vs tribalism.
Movies like Gunga Jumna will continue to guide humanity with their immaculate sense of morality and faith in western values amidst all the short-term pain and wild emotion engendered by civilizational clashes.