Mother India (1957)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Mehboob Khan

Writers:

Wajahat Mirza (dialogue)
S. Ali Raza (dialogue)

Release Date:

14 February 1957 (India)

Genre:

Drama | Musical | Family

Tagline:

The Indian 'Gone with the Wind'

Plot:

The film begins with the finishing of a water canal to the village set in the present. Radha (Nargis)...

Plot Keywords:

Poverty | Money Lender | Revenge | Bangle | Honor

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 6 wins

Cast

Nargis	...	Radha
Sunil Dutt	...	Birju
Rajendra Kumar	...	Ramu
Raaj Kumar	...	Shamu (Radha's Husband)
Kanhaiyalal	...	Sukhilala (as Kanhaiya Lal)
Jilloo Maa
Kumkum	...	Champa
Chanchal
Sheela Naik	...	Kamla
Mukri	...	Shambu (as Muqri)
Siddiqui
Ram Shastri
Fakir Mohammad		(as Faqir Mohomed)
Geeta
Hameeda

Also Known As:

Bharat Mata (India: Hindi title)

Runtime:

172 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color (Gevacolor) (negative) | Color (Technicolor) (prints)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

India:U | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Arthan, Surat, India

Company:

Mehboob Productions

Trivia:

Originally, Sabu, one of the most famous Hollywood stars of Indian origin, was to play the role that Sunil Dutt got eventually.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Silsiilay (2005)

Soundtrack:

O Gadi Wale

A Great Indian Epic in the Making !

Mehboob Khan's Mother India reserves a special place among all time great and memorable Mega Hit films.

Nargis has consummately performed a versatile role of a mature Indian mother who would not allow her own son to rob the honor of their village at any cost. The climactic last scene of the epic, where Radha shoots her son in the back, while Birju was all set to kidnap the cruel money lender's daughter is a tragedy sequence that can be commensurately compared with the ending of another emotionally charged film - Shakti, where Dilip Kumar shoots in the back of his son "Amitabh".

However, Birju's angry performance in this movie steals the show at many a times; for instance, when he argues with his mother and brother about the greedy Bania moneylender who had fleeced their family from all earthly possessions through the odiously manipulative annual interest rate charged by him, although they have toiled day and night to return the debt.

It is a great melodramatic picture, containing magnificent performance by Nargis and Sunil Dutt, while manifesting the impoverished economic conditions and abysmal living standards of a typical Indian rural family who were driven in utter disgust, shame and tragedy due to the volatile temper of one of their family members. However, seething poverty was not the sole reason which perturbed Birju (Sunil Dutt) to become an outlaw and murder Sukhi Lala (the rapacious money lender), but the very ominous and cruel person hidden in the money lender, who, in a backward rural social setup took full benefit/advantage of the poor, illiterate and weak elements of village social order.

Besides, the strong and moving story line, Faredoon has captured mesmerizing stills providing an excellent background setting of the full horizon picture down to the ground level with spreading murky clouds at dusk and at times, against the backdrop of silhouetted actors .

It is definitely a must see movie having marvelous and stupendous cinematography, as well.