Mother India

1957 Drama 172 minutes Directed by Mehboob Khan

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About Mother India

Radha and Shamu start married life in debt to the moneylender Sukhilala. After a farm accident costs Shamu both arms, he leaves. A flood kills Radha's youngest child and her mother-in-law. Sukhilala offers food if she will sleep with him; she refuses, and the village helps her rebuild. Grown, her son Birju steals her wedding bracelets, becomes a bandit, and on Rupa's wedding day kills Sukhilala and carries Rupa off. Radha shoots Birju. The film opens and closes on the canal she is asked to inaugurate.

Cast & crew

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Mehboob Khan produced and directed a remake of his 1940 film Aurat. Wajahat Mirza and S. Ali Raza wrote the script. Faredoon A. Irani photographed. Naushad wrote the music. It was shot at Mehboob Studios in Mumbai and in villages in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh, and released in India on October 25, 1957.

Themes

Background

Khan opened the film in India in October 1957, ten years after independence. A New Delhi screening was attended by the president and the prime minister.

Look

Faredoon A. Irani shot the studio village and the flood and harvest scenes on location in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh.

Music

Naushad composed the score and songs. Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, and Manna Dey are among the singers.

Preservation

Prints survive, including a widely circulated version of the full feature.

Notes

  • Nargis plays Radha, Raaj Kumar plays Shamu, Sunil Dutt plays Birju, and Rajendra Kumar plays Ramu. Kanhaiyalal plays Sukhilala.
  • The title answers Katherine Mayo's 1927 book Mother India.
  • It was the first Indian film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
  • Songs include Lata Mangeshkar's "Nagari Nagari Dware Dware" and, with Mohammed Rafi, "Matwala Jiya Dole Piya," plus Manna Dey's "Chundariya Katati Jaye.

Awards

  • Filmfare Award for Best Film (1958)
  • Filmfare Award for Best Director, Mehboob Khan (1958)
  • Filmfare Award for Best Actress, Nargis (1958)
  • Filmfare Award for Best Cinematography, Faredoon Irani (1958)
  • All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film
  • Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Hindi

Scenes

  • Shamu, without his arms, leaves the house rather than watch the debt grow.
  • Radha refuses Sukhilala when he asks for her body in exchange for food.
  • She shoots Birju as he runs with Rupa, then opens the canal.

Influenced by

  • Mehboob Khan's Aurat (1940)
  • Katherine Mayo's book Mother India (1927)

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