May 30 is an important day for Indian cinema. It was the day when Jai Santoshi Maa (1975) was released in cinemas in 1975 and created history. It was a low-budget film which arrived with zero expectations. But it has emerged as the biggest hit of all time in terms of ROI and no film to date has been able to beat its record, be it Sholay, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Baahubali or Pushpa.
50th anniversary special: 10 UNBELIEVABLE trivia about Jai Santoshi Maa – made in Rs. 3 lakhs, P&A cost went up to Rs. 50 lakhs; BIGGEST ROI hit of Indian cinema, BEATING Sholay, Baahubali, Pushpa; turned theatres into TEMPLES; wealthy patrons BRIBED theatre staff with free lunches for tickets…
Jai Santoshi Maa told the story of a young girl and how her devotion to Santoshi Maa helped her during a challenging period in her life. The storytelling might seem outdated now and even the VFX might seem tacky. But 50 years ago, the narrative floored the moviegoers and the special effects, too, left an impact. The songs, meanwhile, continue to be popular.
As Jai Santoshi Maa celebrated its grand 50th anniversary, we spoke to experts who witnessed the craze first-hand. Trade veteran Taran Adarsh said, “It was a film that completely came out of the syllabus! Those were the days when multi-starrers used to release week after week. Jai Santoshi Maa neither had that kind of star cast nor the budget. Yet, the songs of the film really travelled, and so did the film. The industry was in shock (laughs).”
Due to no star cast and limited awareness, the film didn’t open with a bang. Taran Adarsh explained, “It caught on purely on the basis of word of mouth. Iss film ke toh hoardings bhi nahin lage the. What was striking and I remember seeing this in a theatre in Bandra that people used to remove their shoes outside the audi! They used to also break the coconut at the entrance. “
Distributor and exhibitor Raj Bansal also remembered the phenomenon, “People used to remove footwear outside. Theatres had turned into temples. Before this, we had released a black-and-white film, Kan Kan Men Bhagwan (1963); it was also a devotional film where there was the same kind of effect.”
In this Bollywood Hungama special feature, dedicated to Jai Santoshi Maa, we share 10 fascinating trivia associated with this legendary, cult film.
1. There’s a myth that Jai Santoshi Maa and Sholay released on the same day – August 15. However, a glimpse at old newspaper articles and trade magazines confirmed that this was not the case. Taran Adarsh explained, “At some places, Jai Santoshi Maa might have been released on August 15 as it wasn’t released on the same day on May 30. Even Sholay didn’t have a simultaneous all-India release. But everywhere, it used to open with a bang. The storytelling resonated in a very big way.” Raj Bansal also confirmed, “As far as I remember, it was released in Jaipur on May 30. In other centres, it was released later.”
2. Sholay was a historic blockbuster but in some places, it faced the heat from Jai Santoshi Maa. Taran Adarsh said, “Now films release simultaneously across the country. Those days, that was not the norm. In some places, it even gave tough competition to Sholay. There used to be serpentine queues outside cinema halls. It was not the kind of a film which will get full in advance. This was not a film that worked only in a few centres. It ran across the country.” As per a Times of India article dated May 18, “In Arrah, Bihar, (while) Sholay was shown for eight weeks. Jai Santoshi Maa ran for 16 weeks, a record for the town”.
3. It’s the womenfolk that made Jai Santoshi Maa a historic blockbuster. Film historian Dilip Thakur in a 2023 Etimes article said, “If you notice, films that are liked by women become bigger hits. During those times, women didn’t get to watch movies by themselves. So, separate shows for women were organized on Saturdays because kids would have a half-day at school. Those shows used to be called ‘Janani Shows’ (ladies-special shows). Those shows would have only ladies and their kids.”
4. Jai Santoshi Maa was the most successful film in Edward Cinema, Marine Lines, Mumbai. Sanjay Vasawa, former manager of Edward Talkies, in a 2020 Mid-Day interview revealed, “We had throngs of thousands press against the ticket window. Treating the cinema as their local temple, Gujarati and Maharashtrian housewives removed their chappals at the threshold. Carrying puja thalis, they entered barefoot, lit diyas when Devi Ma appeared on screen, and even distributed chana and jaggery to other devotees.” A 2020 Times Of India story stated, “Tickets (in Edward) were so elusive that businessmen would bribe theatre workers with the same gifts with which they bribed deities: coconuts, blankets, tea-sets, garments, and free lunches”!
5. Jai Santoshi Maa ran for 48 weeks in the Edward cinema and even had an 11 am show at Alankar. As per The Times Of India’s May 18 story, “Film Information magazine noted that an extra early morning show was screened at 9 am in Malad, Bombay, to accommodate the ladies…Even after five years, the film would draw housefull crowds on re-runs”. In Kolkata, it ran for 25 weeks in Kalika while it ran for 87 weeks in noon shows at Ganesh.
6. Ad film guru and filmmaker Niranjan Mehta in the same Etimes story explained how the idea for the film germinated, “The wife of a certain Mr Agarwal from Calcutta was not able to get pregnant. She had kept a vrat of Santoshi Mata and later got pregnant. So, the Agarwal family funded the film to be made.”
7. Surprisingly, before the release, not many in the film business had hopes from Jai Santoshi Maa. Niranjan Mehta explained, “In Mumbai, there were at least 50 trials with distributors and exhibitors but nobody was ready to pick the film. One person picked up the film but he too didn’t have money to release it. He sold it to my friend and distributor K C Bhat. He distributed the film and earned money.”
8. In the Etimes article Mitul Pradeep, daughter of lyricist Kavi Pradeep said, “‘Main To Aarti Utaru Re’ is one of the most iconic lyrics from my father Kavi Pradeep ji’s career. I witnessed the making of the song, too. It was sometime in 1974 when producer Satram Rohra came to our house with music director C Arjun to meet my father. Pradeep ji reluctantly agreed to write lyrics for this project. The tune was based on Gujarati garba… My father called me and my mother to sit and listen to the rehearsal, which was taking place at our residence. My father asked us to be frank with our opinion of this aarti song. It was very simple and the tune was catchy… There was nothing amiss in the lyrics. We told our father, ‘Any person who is spiritually inclined will like this song’…Usha Mangeshkar didi came home the next day for the final rehearsal…Was I aware that this song would make history and would be considered one of the evergreen bhajans by my father? Frankly speaking, I had not imagined it.”
9. Speaking of the film’s cost and recovery, as per reports, it was made at a budget of around Rs. 3 lakhs. It was released with 15 prints and that upped the cost to around Rs. 6 lakhs. Due to the insane popularity, the number of prints increased to 300 and the cost also went up to around Rs. 50 lakhs. This means the print and promotions cost were more than 15 times the production budget. Adjusting the inflation, the film’s collections are more than Rs. 400 crores. It attracted footfalls of 4 crores plus.
10. Due to the success of this film, there emerged a demand for temples dedicated to Santoshi Mata. The May 18 Times of India Story revealed, “Noted anthropologist Veena Das noted that… not only were new temples dedicated to Santoshi Maa, but abandoned temples to goddesses like Shitala were also re-consecrated in her name. This happened not only in metropolitan cities but also in pilgrim cities like Varanasi… Delhi-based Amit Saxena said, ‘After watching the film, many bhakts wanted to visit a Santoshi Mata mandir to express their devotion, to do fasting rituals or just sit there to pay obeisance. That’s why so many mandirs came up at that time’. Professor Philip Lutgendorf, University of Iowa exulted, ‘Making a simple, inexpensive ‘vrat’ the centerpiece of religious practice in the film was a remarkable move on the filmmaker’s part’”.
More Pages: Jai Santoshi Maa Box Office Collection
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