“Woman is the builder and moulder of a nation’s destiny. Though soft and delicate as a lily she has a heart far stronger, and bolder than that of any man.”
How apt the saying is when viewed in the context of the evergreen film “Mother India”. It is the story of the archetypal Indian woman – the completely self-effacing Indian woman who stands for morals, values, and humanity. A mother loves her children like a proud peahen but protects them like a ferocious tigress that keeps a constant vigil over its cubs. However, when the very values for which she has fought all her life are threatened by her son, she doesn’t hesitate to sacrifice even the apple of her eyes. Such is the divinity in the blessed Indian archetypal woman that man would do well to acknowledge, fear, love, and respect her for what she is.
Mahboob Khan’s magnum opus Mother India dwells on this powerful premise.
Released in 1957, Mother India took the country by storm. It was the heart-wrenching story of an idealistic woman that every other woman could identify with.
Highly inspired by “The Good Earth”, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Pearl S Buck, Mahboob Khan adapted the story line to suit the Indian ethos. He first made the black and white film “Aurat” in 1940, which was reasonably successful. Then, in 1957, drawing heavily from “Aurat” he made this movie in colour which drew immediate attention of the western world.
Radha, the main protagonist, is married into a comparatively well to do family of farmers who prospered by growing wheat and pulses. Her husband Shamu is loving and caring and there is happiness all around. But fate had ordained it differently for Radha; devastating floods rob Ramu’s family of their hard-earned assets.
Soon the family is debt ridden. But Radha’s woes have just begun. Her husband, Shamu, loses his both hands in a freak accident rendering him a burden to the family. Now, Radha has to take care of her invalid husband as well as her two little children Ramu and Birju.
Unable to repay the debt owed to the lecherous moneylender Sukhilala and other sundry reasons, Shamu in a symbolic gesture wipes away the bindi from Radha’s forehead and walks away into the night leaving Radha to fend for herself and the two children. As fate (or more correctly Sukhilala) would have it Radha is dished an ignominy at the hands of the cunning and lecherous moneylender.
Radha’s pleas for justice are spurned by the Panchayat comprising of members who are in a way no better than the cowardly moneylender. Radha suffers every indignity at the hands of her own villagers who she trusted most. The coming of the drought only makes things more difficult for her as there is no food to feed her children and the villagers are in no mood to oblige.
Radha, however, is not one to lose heart as she stumbles through life’s unkindest cuts. Loss of husband, property, honour, a child (Ramu), etc does not break her as she takes every hurdle in her stride.
The moment of truth comes when Birju having learnt of her misfortune at the hands of the moneylender tries to avenge the misdeed by killing the moneylender and playing with the honour of Champa who happens to be the daughter of the deceased. Radha’s entreaties go in vain as Birju is in no mood to oblige. The story culminates with Radha killing her only surviving son to prevent him from violating Champa. “Radha, caught between her rebel son and the survival of a community she has been instrumental in building, is faced with a decision that forces her to choose honour over blood.”
Mother India is the story of a woman, a matriarch who sacrifices her entire life for the sake of the villagers, her children, her ideals. Yet what she has ultimately in the end is emptiness and shattered dreams. But, does she give up? No! She still nurtures hope of a better tomorrow.
For Nargis, Mother India was the role of a lifetime. This was the role any actress would have craved for. But Nargis enacted the role so well that we cannot imagine any other artiste doing justice to it.
“Tracing the making of Mehboob Khan’s epic film, Mother India whose Radha became the ultimate tribute to Indian womanhood and every generation’s archetypal mother. Mehboob Khan’s Mother India made Nargis and her character Radha an instant icon, so astonishingly popular that even Indira Gandhi shrewdly sold herself to the electorate as Mother India. And generations of actresses in later decades would sigh longingly when asked about their dream role and reply, ’’Mother India, of course’’. Mother India was one of the five nominees for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards and missed the Oscar by a solitary vote in the third poll.”
Direction:
One of the main features of this film is Mahboob Khan’s complete command over the subject. Hailing from a village himself, he has extraordinary control over the story line. If a three-hour film can make you sit through it imparting a feeling that you are also a part of the story, then nothing more need be said.
Music:
The great maestro Late Naushad who just passed away recently embellished this movie with some gems:
Dukh bhare din beetey,
Duniya main hum aaye hain,
Ghuunghat nahi kholungi,
Jundhariya katatii jaaye re,
Matavala jiya dole re,
Na main bhagwaan hoon,
O jaane vaale,
O mere laal,
Pii ke ghar aaj pyaarii
My personal favourites being ‘Duniya main hum aaye’, and ‘O mere laal’.
Screenplay and dialogues:
Screenplay is a bit of a let down. The dialogues could have been more powerful keeping in view the strong subject.
Performances:
It’s an out and out Nargis film. I think no other actress could have done justice to it. The film brought to Nargis world-wide fame and she became an instant icon with the masses. It is believed by many that the late Mrs Indira Gandhi calculatingly projected herself as the ‘Mother India’ to the electorate.
There is not much to talk about the other roles, as it is totally a ‘woman’ oriented film. But Raaj Kumar as Radha’s husband, Rajendra Kumar and Sunil Dutt as her two sons delivered what was required of them.
Some musings:
Sunil Dutt must thank Dilip Kumar for his good fortune. The great Dilip kumar was selected to do the roles of both Radha’s husband and the wayward son. But later he was offered the role of husband only. This did not go well with Dilip saab and he declined to act in the film. This paved the way for Sunil Dutt who was supposed to do the role of the other son Ramu was now given the role of Birju, which was pivotal to the story.
Sunil Dutt, during his days as an announcer in AIR, was a crazy fan of Nargis. Little did he imagine that he would act in the same film with his female idol, and that too, as her son? As fate would have it, they were drawn closer and one day Nargis was trapped in a blaze at the sets. The chivalrous Dutt dived into the flames and rushed back holding a badly bruised and much shaken Nargis in his arms. That proved symbolic as he was destined to hold her in his arms for the rest of her life and more importantly during her last days when she was battling against Cancer.
Rajendra Kumar who acted in this film as his brother later became ‘Samdhis’ (Rajendra Kumar’s son marrying Sunil Dutt’s daughter) in real life.
If you have missed this film, then sadly you have missed the greatest tribute on celluloid to the ‘Indian Woman, and Mother’.
Mbfarookh.
