Roy who earlier worked with her in Devdas and Madhumati offered her the lead role in Bandini opposite Ashok Kumar and Dharmendra. However, Vyjayanthimala could not accept the role due to her busy schedule. Boxofficeindia.com ranked Vyjayanthimala at the top spot in their list of "Top Three Successful Box Office Actress" of 1962 and 1963 respectively, despite her box office failures. Following a two year sabbatical, Vyjayanthimala re-attained her success in Hindi films through Raj Kapoor's first technicolor film Sangam. Termed as Kapoor's magnum opus, the film was produced with a lavish budget by his production company R. K. Films. Earlier in the 1940s, Kapoor planned to launch Sangam in the title of Gharonda with Dilip Kumar, Nargis and himself in the lead, however the film was delayed several times until 1962. Following Kumar and Dev Anand's refusal to be a part of the film, Kapoor then signed Rajendra Kumar and himself as the male leads. Sangam was the first Indian film shot in Europe and outside of Asia. It was the longest running film in India when it was released at 238 minutes. The film also created a record by being the first film to have two intervals during theatrical screenings. With cinematography by Radhu Kamarkar, the European filming locations include Venice, Paris, Switzerland and London, while the Indian locations include Ooty and Kashmir Valley. Upon release, the film was received widespread critical acclaim and was considered as Hindi cinema's greatest love triangle. Vyjayanthimala's performance too received high praise from critics. Dinesh Raheja of Rediff said that: "to put it simply, radiant...the maturity with which she tackles her character, the insouciance as well as the agony" and called it "one of commercial cinema's most unforgettable performances". Similarly, the film was commercially successful throughout India and other countries as well. On its overall theatrical run, Boxofficeindia.com reported that the film had grossed 8,00,00,000 and netted around with its adjusted to inflation net gross about . Subsequently, the film was labelled as a blockbuster, where it was ranked as highest-grossing film of 1964 and the second highest-grossing film of the decade. The film was ranked at fourth by Boxofficeindia.co.in in their list of "Top 50 Film of Last 50 Years" which feature all-time highest grossing Hindi film with its adjusted to inflation gross about . Sangam also had a great box office run outside of India where it was well received