Dec 26, 2004 11:02 PM
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(Updated Dec 26, 2004 11:02 PM)
Legends are not the result of accidents ? they are created by geniuses, special people for whom the creation of the masterpiece is the only reason-de-etat of being in the profession. If this is true for all forms of art, it?s also true for the greatest art of all ? the one that encompasses all forms of art ?Movie making.
Such is the fate of some movies that they are destined only to be experienced as what they are ? mind blowing legends - and it?s hence no surprise that even after a passage of about 50 years, they still manage to hold their charm in an industry where a movie is considered passé within a year of it?s release. Reviewers still hark towards them to make a point and they become reference points and undulating challenges for the coming generations.
Mother India belongs to that genre of films which make you sit up and take notice of the fact that Indians can also produce, direct, script and make films with the same finesse normally associated with the Westerners. It proves beyond a shred of doubt (although the proponents of today?s generation moviemakers would beg to differ) that Indian films are in no way inferior to what the West makes.
On a superficial level, Mother India is the story of a peasant woman, Radha (Nargis in the best role of her life) and the vicissitudes she has to face after her weak-willed husband Shyam (Raaj Kumar in his first major role) leaves her to fend for herself and how she manages to fend for herself and live a life of dignity inspite a host of problems.
On the deeper level, this is a movie which brings out in bold relief the problems faced by Indian peasants in the early years of the century at the hands of unsavory moneylenders and the social restrictions of the time.
The movie is also one of the first movies, which allows the female protagonist a role of great substance and it?s to the credit of this movie that the ?mother? became important in later movies ? a role Nirupa Roy made a hallmark of her career in the seventies.
Nargis as Radha gives a brilliant performance, easily among the best 3 performances by an actress in the annals of Indian movie history and you literally feel smothered down by her grief, exalted at her happiness, frustrated at her helplessness and poignant at her final decision. She captures the emotions of the populace effortlessly and you find yourself in perfect consonance with her actions.
Sunil Dutt as her rebellious son, Birju brings to life the angst of the younger generation at the injustices meted out to them due to social inadequacies. Looking at his performance, none can say this was the first major role the actor essayed. The actor is excellent and the angst is well portrayed.
Rajendra Kumar as the other son, Ramu also plays his part effortlessly. His is the role which exudes idealism and a quiet child-like obedience to his past and he manages to perform the same without any flaw. He represents the multitude of Indians, suffering under oppressive customs but not agreeable to changing the same for fear of loss of moral ground.
Raaj Kumar as Shaamu is commendable. His frustration and his slow fall into depression have been very vividly captured in the movie. Some scenes like the one where Sukhilala puts the cowbell on his shoulders or the one where in a spasm of cough, the cigarette falls on his shirt and he is unable to dislodge it are scenes which convey a master actor at his work.
Kanhaiyalal as Sukhilala, is excellence personified and it?s unfortunate that this great actor?s exploits have gone highly unnoticed even by the greatest connoisseurs of Indian Cinema and the modern viewer is still ignorant of his great exploits on the Indian screen.
Of the rest Mukri, Jiloo Bai, Chanchal, Kumkum, Master Sajid and Azra are exceptionally brilliant, especially Azra who manages to portray unrequited love quite effortlessly and Master Sajid who plays his role with characteristic élan.
Naushad?s music is highly melodious; especially all the songs of Lata Mangeshkar are outright gems in their own right. Under his masterful eye, Lata graduates effortlessly from a newly-wed wife to a mother and then grandmother effortlessly. Manna Dey is also excellent in the one song that portrays the anguish of the Indian peasants.
Mehboob once again proves that he was, is and shall always remain a front name director in the annals of Indian film directors. The different undercurrents that he weaves in the movie, the helplessness of the matriarch and the widening gulf between the two faces of the new generation as well as the frustrations of a society urgently in need of reform and the resultant discord in the family due to the inherent confusion due to the same is pulsating and well captured.
In all, Mother India is not a movie?.. It?s a legend and legends never die.
