Imagine, if you will, that the film Oklahoma! (1955) were given subtitles in some local African dialect and screened for a remote tribe in the heart of central Africa. What would they think of it? What would they imagine about us after viewing such a film? For many Americans and Western Europeans, watching India's most famous film, Mother India, seems to be akin to that kind of experience. Most reviewers of this film just don't seem able or willing to experience this film on its own terms. Instead, they want to evaluate it against this or that Hollywood film or genre. They complain about the characters being one-dimensional. Well, yes, they mostly are, but so too are the characters in a lot of classic melodramas, especially for musicals such as Oklahoma! or South Pacific. They complain that the film is awash in sentimentality. Yes, but for the Indian people, this sentimental film is the most revered and influential ever made in their country. I'll take every time the judgment of a billion people who know the cultural climate that the film extols over the cynical intolerance of a few negativistic Western critics.

Historical Background: Mehboob Khan, or simply Mehboob, was one of India's premiere directors and a classic rags to riches story. He was born in 1906 or 1907 into abject poverty in the small Indian village of Bilimora in Gujarat province. He took a job as an unpaid extra in a film in 1923 and slept on the benches at a railway station during a fledging acting career that ultimately floundered. He was immediately successful, however, when he turned to directing in the thirties, scoring successes with such films as Al Hilal (1932), Judgment of Allah (1935), Roti, Watan (1936), and We Three (1939). After the success of Aurat (1940), he formed his own production company, Mehboob Studios, in 1942 and it soon became known as one of the best in India. It still thrives today. Mehboob is best remembered today for films made under the auspices of this company during the forties and fifties, including Taqdeer (1943) and Aan ("Savage Princess") (1952). Prior to Aan, Mehboob had focused on social themes, but Aan marked a transition for Mehboob into colorful entertainment films with mass appeal. His most famous film is the one under review here, Mother India (1957), which is widely considered to be the most popular Indian film of all time. It is said to have been playing somewhere in India every day since its release! It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1957 in the Best Foreign Film category and is often described as India's equivalent of Gone With the Wind (1939). Mother India was a remake of the earlier Mehboob film, Aurat (1940).

The Story: As the story opens, the elderly village matriarch, Radha (Nargis) has been asked by leaders of the community to participate in the inauguration of a new waterway that has just been completed, which will modernize the farming in the village and enhance prosperity. Radha reluctantly agrees and as she is helped to the celebration, her life's story unfolds in flashback.

Young Radha was the most beautiful woman in her village and was betrothed to a handsome young man, Shyamu (Raaj Kumar). To pay for the wedding, Shyamu's mother, Auntie Sunder (Jilloo Maa), mortgages her property to an unscrupulous moneylender, Sukhilala (Kanhaiyalal), who is the only educated man in the village. He tricks her into signing a contract that requires her to turn over three-quarters of their crop yield each year as interest on the loan. That ensures that the family will have too little left to ever repay the principle, leaving them beholden to the moneylender in perpetuity. Think Shylock, then add a touch of Snidely Whiplash, and you have a general picture of the Sukhilala character!

Shyamu and Radha struggle desperately to make a go of it. They work side by side in the fields, even as their family gradually grows by three young sons. Radha proposes that they break another field not mortgaged to Sukhilala to provide enough additional harvest revenue to pay down the debt, but one of the oxen is driven to death in the process. Later, as they try to complete the clearing of rocks from the new field, a large boulder slides onto Shyamu and he loses both his arms. Radha tries desperately to support the family and her now invalid husband, but they tumble hopelessly into ever deepening poverty. Shyamu is so ashamed of his status that he finally runs off during the night to take up a life of begging elsewhere. Radha is heartbroken. Even then, further tragedies beset her. Auntie Sunder dies and a massive flood precipitates a famine. Radha also loses her youngest son in the flood.

The two older boys of Radha are Ramu (Rajendra Kumar) and his younger brother Birju (Sunil Dutt). Both are devoted to their mother, but in different way. Ramu is responsible and enduring, like his mother, but Birju grows up angry, mischievous, and rebellious. He chaffs under the injustice to which he and his family have been subjected. His mother is too full of love for him to properly discipline him. Birju despises the moneylender and as he gradually matures into adolescence, his hatred extends as well to the moneylender's daughter, Rupa (Chanchal). The final blow for Birju is when his mother has to sell her gold bangles, which were part of her wedding dowry, to the moneylender and they end up on Rupa's wrists. Even as a child, Birju had stood up to the unscrupulous Sukhilala, but as an adolescent, he becomes the torment of all of the girls in the village, breaking their pots with stones as they lug water from the river.

As a young man, Ramu courts and finally marries the lovely Champa (Kumkum). Birju courts the coy daughter of the schoolteacher, but is rejected by her parents as too unstable and undependable. Meanwhile, Birju and Rupa seem to foster something of a love-hate relationship with one another, being simultaneously attracted and repelled by each other. For her part, Radha has to fend off the lecherous advances of the onerous Sukhilala. Birju is increasingly consumed by his anger toward Sukhilala, turns into a thief, and, finally, threatens to kill Sukhilala. He is driven out of the village and becomes a bandit. Events come to a climax on Rupa's wedding day. Birju has sent word in advance that he and his gang of outlaws will abduct Rupa and kill her father if the wedding proceeds as planned. Radha is asked to dissuade her son and has to choose between her love for her son and her honor and place within the community.

Themes: Mother India is an epic film with multiple themes. On one level is the basic story of good versus evil in the form of Radha vs. Sukhilala. It is also a story of endurance in the face of hardship and tragedy. Beneath the surface, it is not difficult to see this film as allegorical for the Indian fight for independence. One segment of the Indian populace, led by Gandhi, set out to achieve independence nonviolently through passive resistance. Another segment argued for the path of violent confrontation. Radha's two sons manifest that same dichotomy of approaches for dealing with the forces of repression and exploitation. Violent action against an oppressor can be justified, but there is always a risk that the violence will be extended to relatively innocent parties merely associated with the oppressor. That is what happens with Birju's agenda. Many viewers of this film will take some satisfaction in Birju killing the moneylender but neither we not Birju's own mother can condone his abducting Rupa, who is not guilty merely because she is the daughter of an oppressor. Like Gandhi, Mehboob and Radha come down on the side of endurance and nonviolent opposition over violence.

Radha is symbolic of India itself. Radha sustains her children, endures hardship, maintains her dignity and values, and demands honorable behavior especially from her own children. All of those same points could be applied to India as the Motherland for the Indian people. As an actress, Radha was revered and adored by the Indian people and her mystique adds to the appropriateness of her character being emblematic of all that is great about India.

Production Values: Viewers who are not prepared for melodramatic excess may be turned off by this film. I've said before that I like to concede a film the basic conventions of its genre and, for Bollywood films (of which this was seminal), that means blatant melodrama, what would be called "over-acting" in another kind of film, and periodic interruption of the story for big, splashy production numbers. If all of that sounds unappealing to you, this may not be the film for you. This is a film with a straightforward appeal to nationalism and pride in Indian heritage, which will obviously have deeper meaning for Indians than for people of other cultures. I personally found this film to be powerful and engaging, notwithstanding its histrionics.

Mehboob not only directed this film, but also scripted and produced it. One of the strengths of the script is its expansive evocation of life in a small village in rural India. There are gorgeous shots of wheat fields, oxen at work, women carrying water jugs, and a dramatic ox-cart race, just to name a few examples. There's a beautifully filmed traditional Indian wedding ceremony with all of the accoutrements. There are many tender moments of relationship between husbands and wives as well as parents and their children. It is gratifying to note that a Muslim directed this film with strong Hindu underpinnings. Religious tolerance sometimes existed in 1957.

I initially found the comic scenes, mostly involving Birju, somewhat jarring. They are reminiscent of Western slapstick and it's hard to reconcile slapstick comedy with highly melodramatic tragedy. Again, it's either something you accept as part of the film's conventions or you reject it. After a while, I found the comedy added a welcome bit of levity to the somber portrayals of death, starvation, and exploitation.

The musical numbers, written by Naushad, were quite appealing, well-spaced, and occurred at peak emotional moments that seemed to deserve the highlighting that the production numbers provided. The music is delightful and the choreography excellent. One powerful number culminated in an overhead display of a wheat field cut into the contours of the Indian subcontinent. The film utilized some of the greatest playback singers in the history of Bollywood filmmaking, including Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, and Mohammed Rafi.

Nargis is one of the most extraordinary actresses I have ever seen. She plays her character from about age eighteen to eighty and manages to look the part at every stage of life, rather than simply an actress made to look older. She begins as a coy, demure, and blushing young bride and matures into a veritable earth mother. Nargis, in 1957, could express vulnerability along with resolute strength as well as you'll ever see those qualities displayed. Her command of facial expression and hand gestures is exceptional: a raised eyebrow here, a finger to the edge of her mouth, or a palm to her forehead are among her signature expressions. Nargis was one of the greatest stars in the history of Indian cinema. She was so beloved throughout India.that her occasional transgressions were forgiven by the adoring populace. She was more Westernized than was typical of Indian women of her era, wearing elegant Parisian fashions, both formal and casual. She was the first Indian actress to appear on screen in a bathing suit, making a sensation, but only further enhancing her image. She had a scandalous affair, by Indian standards, with Raj Kapoor. Nargis had become famous playing opposite Kapoor, who was the most popular male Indian actor of his generation, in several films. Kapoor went on to become a renowned director as well. The illicit affair tarnished Nargis' reputation but all was forgiven when she later married her co-star of Mother India, Sunil Dutt. What made the marriage especially storybook perfect was that Dutt had saved the life of Nargis during the filming of Mother India, when the magnificent haystack fire scene of the film got out of control during one take. Nargis and Dutt had a son, Sanjay Dutt, who became an important Indian actor as well. Nargis was twenty-eight when this film was made and it is she who lifts this film from banal melodrama to the sublime height of a classic. Dutt went on to become a director and a producer and, later, a Minister in the Indian Parliament. After Nargis died from cancer, the devoted Dutt turned to social activism, fighting for peace, alleviation of poverty, and spearheading the Nargis Dutt Cancer Foundation. One can find nearly as much melodrama in the real lives of this pair as in the great film that they starred in together.

Dutt's performance was the one most fitting the term "over-acting." His performance was a bit reminiscent of Toshiro Mifune in The Seven Samurai. Nevertheless, he grew on me as the film continued. I enjoyed Kumkum as Champa in her one big production number. Kanhaiyalal is brilliant as the villainous Sukhilala. The boy who played the young Birju was pretty amazing, delivering some pretty intense and mature lines for such a young lad.

Bottom-Line: Mother India is a landmark in Indian cinema and it's easy to see why. It is a classic and a must-see for anyone interested in Indian films. Is it the greatest Indian film ever? Not in my judgment. I don't rank it with the best of the films of Satyajit Ray, for example. But for the Bollywood style of film, it is right up there at the top of the haystack. The DVD from Bollywood Entertainment provides a bright, colorful transfer with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The lyrics of the songs are sometimes not translated into subtitles, so you'll have to enjoy those segments of the production numbers mainly for their visual effect. The context makes the general tenor of these musical interludes self-evident anyway. Mother India is in Hindi with English subtitles and has a running time of 175 minutes.


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You might want to check out these other excellent films from India:

Aparajito
Charulata
Earth
Jalsaghar
Kadosh
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
Pather Panchali
Salaam Bombay!
The Terrorist
The World of Apu

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older