Mother India
0 views
Skip to first unread message
sri rama
Feb 2, 2007, 10:55:04 PM2/2/07
to iforindia, ifor...@yahoogroups.com, ifor...@groups.msn.com
Mother India
Palash Biswas
(Contact: Palash C Biswas, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata-700110,
India)
mother India has been a favourite film in our peasant family. With
Do Bigha jameen this film portrays the Rural India in the same way
as depicted by Munshi Prem Chand in his epic novel godan. I first
saw the film in my childhood. I enjoyed the film anytime whenevr it
was telecasted on small screen as I never miss an opportunity to see
Teesri Kasam. Recently I saw Mother India once again and it seems to
be the most relevent film till this date, as I feel. No less than
Twenty thousand farmers died victimised by Globalistion since 1998.
Bidarbh has becom famous for suicides. suicide by a farmer does not
stun any one today. It is a dull routine of everyday life in Rural
India. I find a new meaning of Samu`s leaving his family and the
fight launched by his wife , the mother India. The bleeding
continues and no river , no ocean in this world seems to sustain
without the blood of peasants worldwide. This is globalisation. Is
any one interested to do a remake of Mother India in the Sez context
as they have done so many times?
The stotry line:
Radha (Nargis) now an old woman remembers her past. She remembers
her married life. The family has to work extremely hard to pay off
the moneylender Sukhilala (Kanhaiyalal) . Her husband (Raj Kumar)
loses both his arms in an accident and feeling useless abandons the
family. Alone, Radha has to raise her children while fending off
financial as well as sexual pressures from Sukhilala. One son dies
in a flood, and in later years one son Ramu (Rajendra Kumar) grows
to be a dutiful son while the other Birju (Sunil Dutt) becomes a
rebel committed to direct, violent action. Finally to preserve the
honour of the village, Radha puts an end to Birju's rebellious
activities by shooting him down.
Until recently, before satellite television changed viewing habits,
Mehboob Khan's Mother India (1957), could boast the remarkable
distinction of having been constantly in distribution since its
first release. Rooted both in Hindu mythology and in the collective
experience of a newly independent nation-state on the brink of
industrialization and social change, the film, starring screen
legends like Nargis, Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar, is a family
melodrama that moves inexorably towards tragedy and renewal.The most
important film of its time and now a national epic, Mother India
portrayed rural life as the true 'essence' of India. The heroine,
Radha, embodied the moral values and social customs that form the
basis of traditional Indian society. Nargis Dutt played a role that
no one could repeat. Not even our darlings like Shabana azmi, Smita
Patil or konkana sensharma. Hitherto nargis played typical raj
kapoor romantic films and she had been best known as in pair. She
felt the pain, pangs and passion of real indian rural woman. She
challanges goddess laxmi, ` Kabhi Maa Banke dekho'. Her cry is an
eternal cry of mothre India, ` Mere Bacche Bhookhe hai ( My children
are Hungry). Well, the real mother India is also crying all the time
that her childre are starving. Only intellects like Mahashweta devi,
Medha, Arundhati and a section of Kolkata Intellegentsia seem to
have listened the cry. Others who use art, literature and culture as
a best tool to promote prostitution, are quite detached. best
examples are Sunil Gango, Saumitra chatterjee, Mrinal sen, amartya
sen and Md Yunus. Who remained silent during all the turmoil in
singur and nandigram, have come out of den to save the brahmin
Pustak Mela.
Rajkumar played not a lesser role as he reprents the helplessness of
Indian peasants. He wipes the sindoor on her wife`s forehead. Better
expressesed is the suicide trend , globalisation and SEZ econmy, in
this single shot.
Though we don1t face any resistance as we see in Benegal films
Ankur, Nishant and Manthan. Shrikakulam , Telengana or Naxalbari had
not been the inspiration for Mehbbob. We may not find nandigram or
singur in Mother India, but we definitely see shadow of Bidarbh and
Kalahandi all the way. Life struggle of Inda`s rural underclass
population is honestly portrayed without any political
dimention.Radha stood as a symbol of Indian womanhood and a new
independent nation.In 1947 India gained independence from British
rule. The country was caught between the need to modernise and
continue the technological advances of the last two decades, and the
need to maintain traditional moral values and avoid cultural
decline.Cities were at the centre of many social and economic
changes. Seen as the source of employment and wealth they attracted
thousands of migrant workers from the villages. In this period of
transition, films looked at the question of national identity and
what the meaning of being Indian meant. They explored issues of
modernity versus tradition, of urban life versus the rural ideal.
Cities were projected as corrupt and evil while villages were seen
to preserve social and moral values.
You may witness the sets of Mother India real anywhere in India
thanks to NRI Ruling Brahminical classes whic have enslaved the
Rural India by Hindutva politics of different brands in cludin Left,
Right and centrist. Just vist bidarbh. You may chose singur. Why
Nandigram also seems to be very appropriate set for mothre India.
Will Mrina sen, Gautam Ghosh, rRtuparna, Aparna sen, Shyam benegal,
Maniratnam, Adoor, anyone would like to shoot live?
Do all the different facets of her suffering allow "Mother India"
to reach a moment of absolute clarity at the end? Is she exhibiting
a healthy anger, or is it the sentimentalised anger of those who
like to believe that there is nothing more ennobling than a victim
who accepts her fate. These ambiguities, along with the lushly
beautiful image of Nargis toiling away in glorious cinematic colour,
are what make the myth of "Mother India" so compelling. In a poor
country it is almost a consolation to be a victim. Women have been
persuaded to play this role till it has almost become a hereditary
right to become widows, to become "satis" to become temple
prostitutes, to be labelled as "unclean", or "barren" or to be
regarded as property to be bartered as the system demands. This type
of anger fragments a society and destroys an individual into
thinking that he or she is just a helpless plaything for the gods,
or economic forces to control or destroy, or the next well meaning
NGO to bachao. It is quite the opposite of the positive anger that a
Vivekananda, or a Gandhi, or any of the social reformers of the pre-
Independence era, were able to instil.
REACHING villages in eastern Midnapur, 120km (75 miles) south of
Kolkata, where a branch of the Ganges runs into the sea, has become
an ordeal. Trenches have been cut into the approach roads and bricks
and palm-trunks piled over them; no vehicle bigger than a motorcycle
can pass. Beside the barricades, black rags hang from bamboo
flagstaffs—in honour, the locals say, of half a dozen villagers
killed this month in a battle with the state government's goons. At
the entrance to one village, Gar Chakraberia, a burnt-out police van
bears their epitaph: "We will never let industry take our
motherland." The cause of the conflict is a plan by West Bengal's
Communist government to grant land to an Indonesian conglomerate,
the Salim Group, which wants to build petrochemical plants over
Midnapur's fishponds and paddy fields. The group has been promised
9,000 hectares (22,000 acres) in the form of two special economic
zones (SEZs)—havens for export-driven industry, with light taxation
and other perks. The government hopes that, as in China, SEZs will
boost the development of infrastructure and manufacturing. Since it
passed a law offering improved terms for investors in the zones last
year, 63 have been approved, 237 have been all but approved and over
400 are being considered.
The film, Mother india begins with the finishing of a water canal to
the village set in the present. Radha (Nargis), as the 'mother' of
the village is asked to open the canal and remembers back to her
past when she was newly married, mirroring the new independence of
India.The wedding between Radha and Shamu (Raaj Kumar) was paid for
by Radha's mother in law who raised a loan from the moneylender,
Sukhilala. This event starts the spiral of poverty and hardship
which Radha endures. The conditions of the loan are disputed but the
village elders decide in favour of the moneylender after which Shamu
and Radha are forced to pay three quarters of their crop as interest
on the loan of 500 rupees.Whilst trying to bring more of their land
into use to alleviate their poverty, Shamu's arms are crushed by a
boulder. He is shamed by his helplessness and is humiliated by
others in the village, deciding that he is no use to his family he
leaves and does not return. Soon after this, Radha's mother in law
dies.
Radha continues to work in the fields with her children and gives
birth again. Sukhilala offers to help alleviate her poverty in
return for Radha marrying him, but she refuses to "sell herself". A
storm sweeps through the village destroying the harvest and killing
Radha's youngest child - the villagers start to migrate but decide
to stay and rebuild on the urging of Radha.
The film then skips forward several years to when Radha's two
surviving children, Birju and Ramu, are young men. Birju, embittered
by the exactions of Sukhilala since he was a child takes out his
frustrations by pestering the village girls, especially Sukhilala's
daughter. Ramu, by contrast, has a calmer temper and is married soon
after. He becomes a father but his wife is soon absorbed into the
cycle of poverty in the family.
Birju's anger finally becomes dangerous and, after being provoked,
attacks Sukhilala and his daughter as well as violently lashing out
at his family. He is chased out of the village and becomes a bandit.
On the day of the weeding of Sukhilala's daughter, Birju returns to
take his revenge. He kills Sukhilala and takes his daughter - but
Radha, who had promised that Birju would not do harm, shoots Birju
who dies in her arms. The film ends with her opening of the canal
and reddish water flowing into the fields.
this story is repeated again and again. Now it has got the global
dimention, as not only the feudal lord, this time the entire state
machinery is invoved to evict Indian peasants from their land an
life.
Real Double speak may not be compared with mother India at all.
Leader of one of the major constituents of the Left Front, Mr
Debabrata Biswas is the general secretary of the All-India Forward
Bloc, the party founded by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1939.
Holding the party post for the third consecutive term since 1997,
sixty-one-year- old Mr Biswas entered politics as a student leader.
A Rajya Sabha member for the third term, Mr Biswas hails from Bagnam
village, just 10 km from Singur, the Hooghly village where the West
Bengal government had to use the police to control protests over
land acquisition for the Tata small car project.
Singur received nationwide attention and brought Left Front unity
under strain.
Many Left Front leaders, including Mr Biswas, complained that the
confusion arose because of lack of transparency in the land
acquisition process. But despite the Left supporters have come out
against SEZ in Nandigram, the leaders of the left all around are out
to save the front, the governments in states and centre and the
interests of the ruling classes.
In a poor agrarian country, the charge of bullying farmers to pander
to big business can be a winding blow, especially as the ruling
coalition, led by the Congress Party, relies on the Communist
parties for its parliamentary majority. Not coincidentally, West
Bengal has been ruled for 30 years by the Communists, who until a
few years ago opposed most industrialisation. The West Bengal
opposition is now relishing the chance to accuse the commies of
cosying up to capitalists at the expense of the peasantry. "In a
Communist state, sir! The poor peasants are being shot with bullets
by the Communist party police," says Madan Mitra, a leader of the
opposition Trinamul Congress Party. With elections looming in four
other states, including the most populous, Uttar Pradesh, the
central government will not rush to unblock SEZs.
Tagore wrote Bahart Tirtha, Jana gana Mana and dui Bigha Jami.
Bankim wrote Vande Mataram and anando Math- all depicting what India
was under Colonial rule. Mother India is essentially a story of free
India. And what a freedom have we got. The peasants are free to
commit suicide and the poor population living under poverty line has
got the right to succumb anytime. What sovereignity have we got that
we follow every dictate from Washingto and World Bank and IMF play
non constitutional agents to run the government alligning with
foriegn capital and corporations with a sole aim to protect US
interests anywhere in this world.
Nature and man seem to be different. different are the polity and
society. We have surrenedered our culture and laguages, folk and
music, arts and crafts the entire production system. Kanhaialal
would not have played the roles played by Dr Manmohan singh,
Buddhdev Bhattacharya, Left leaders and chief ministers of India. In
Mehboob's famous film, "Mother India" the most electrifying moment
comes at the end, when Nargis, Indian cinema's most enduring
heroine, picks up a gun and kills her own favourite son Birju, who
has become a dacoit, when he comes to take revenge against the
moneylender at whose hands his mother has suffered all her life. It
is more than 40 years since "Mother India" was shown in 1957, and
few people will remember the extraordinary hold that the film had on
the imagination of the viewers. It was in part a response to the
trauma of Partition, where like the Birju figure, one part of the
country had turned against the Motherland. In another light, it was
an epic poem to the suffering image of the Indian woman as
exemplified in the transformation of Nargis, from a beautiful bride,
to the anguished wife, mother, tiller of the soil, a single woman
whose body is still desired by the greedy moneylender and finally
the saviour of the village, who goes against her innermost instincts
to kill her son. You couldn't get more reactionary than that. It's a
triumph of the patriarchy where even the most oppressed of victims
turns around and supports the old feudal order. There could be no
bigger sacrifice than that of a Mother killing her own son for the
greater good of society, even a society that has just ground her
into the soil.
Not only Singur or Nandigram or Barasat or Bhangad or Haripur, not
only Maharashtra and uttar Pradesh, now Punjab farmers also have
lodged their protest agaist the murder of Rural India. Farmers of
punajab clashed on Wednesday with Police in Barnala to save their
green fields.
Protesting against forcible acquisition of the farmers' land and
seeking its restoration, activists of various farmer bodies today
clashed with the Police in Barnala. The farmers allege that the
government was forcibly acquiring farmers' lands and protecting the
interests of big business houses. They have also accused the
government of forcibly handing over 376 acres of land in three
Barnala villages to Trident under the same policy. On the other
hand, on Tuesday, January 30, 2007,Trinamool Congress chief Mamata
Banerjee has issued a fresh ultimatum on Singur.It was her first
public appearance since she was released from hospital after her 25-
day hunger strike last month. The Trinamool leader warned that if
the Tatas and the West Bengal government did not do a rethink on the
Tata Motors factory at Singur within the next 10 days, she would not
be responsible for the trouble that was inevitable.
Every Tata has his legacy and Ratan Tata, the man with a rare mix of
grace, composure and steely nerves, has created his own by winning
the Corus battle against odds just as he steered the people's car
project at Singur in West Bengal. Since taking the reins of the
$21.9 billion Tata business empire in 1991, Ratan Tata, 69, has only
steeled the group's reputation of integrity, goodwill and
competence. To the Indian polity, Tata, who is heading the
Investment Commission, is an apolitical policymaker, while to
corporate India, he is a great visionary and for the group, he is an
outstanding entrepreneur. The takeover of the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker
is especially close to the heart of Ratan Tata, as it coincides with
Tata Steel's 100th year. Tata Steel was founded in 1907 despite
hurdles from the then British colonial masters. But it took a lot of
perseverance on his part before the Corus deal was finally clinched.
The last five years have seen Tatas emerging as India's biggest
acquirer of global entities, adding one company after another to the
kitty of the group, which otherwise is also a major expansion drive
with an investment of over Rs 180,000 crore (Rs 1,800 billion) in
the next 5-7 years.
Therefore, it doesn't come as a surprise that he is many a times
asked to lead corporate giants, along with the Prime Minister, to
showcase India as an investment destination.
Mamata Banerjee on Sunady accused the West Bengal government of
having "double standards", saying it was enforcing prohibitory
orders on common people at Singur in Hooghly district while helping
the Tatas go ahead with the work for setting up their small car
factory there.
"Everyone is equal before the law. Then why is it that commoners are
not being allowed to enter Singur through enforcement orders under
section 144 CrPC," she said.
"While there is one law for the common people why then there should
be a separate provision for the Tatas," she said adding "We are
opposed to setting up industries on fertile agricultural land. Let
the industries come up on non-agricultural land."
She said "provocative" statements of the ruling party leaders and
the role of the "callous" administration had created the impasse at
Nandigram in east Midnapur district where the opposition parties are
protesting, vowing to oppose any move for acquisition of farmland
for the proposed SEZ of Indonesian business house Salim Group.
"Similarly, the government attitude is responsible for the present
situation at Singur," she said. Banerjee was reacting to the clashes
between Trinamool supporters and the police near Singur today during
a demonstration to protest the start of work on the Tatas` small car
project. The Trinamool chief observed a 25-day hunger strike last
month demanding re-location of the plant, while social activist
Medha Patkar also made repeated attempts to reach Singur where
prohibitory orders were clamped by the administration following
initial protests. Official sources had earlier said the prohibitory
orders were in force as it was apprehended that some groups opposed
to farmland acquisition might "instigate trouble".
Besides the forcible land acquisition for SEZs, the farmers allege
that it is the government's failure to reach out to them at the
grassroots that has hurt the community the most. The farmers said
they would not allow anyone to step into their land and would
continue with the stir.
Meanwhile Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus says SEZ policy is
sustainable > He follows the Amarty Sen linewhich is quite in vogue
in Asian countries. Economics has always been a tool for capitalism
as Adam smith invented the genre.he case for free trade rests on the
age-old principle of comparative advantage, the idea that countries
are better off when they export the things they are best at
producing, and import the rest. Most mainstream economists accept
the principle, but even they have serious differences of opinion on
the balance of potential benefits and actual costs from trade and on
the importance of social protection for the poor. Free traders
believe that the rising tide of international specialization and
investment lifts all boats. Others point out that many poor people
lack the capacity to adjust, retool and relocate with changing
market conditions. These scholars argue that the benefits of
specialization materialize in the long run, over which people and
resources are assumed to be fully mobile, whereas the adjustments
can cause pain in the short run.
The debate among economists is a paragon of civility compared
withthe one taking place in the streets. Antiglobalizers' central
claim is that globalization is making the rich richer and the poor
poorer; proglobalizers assert that it actually helps the poor. But
if one looks at the factual evidence, the matter is rather more
complicated. On the basis of household survey data collected by
different agencies, the World Bank estimates the fraction of the
population in developing countries that falls below the $1-a-day
poverty line (at 1993 prices)--an admittedly crude but
internationally comparable level. By this measure, extreme poverty
is declining in the aggregate. The trend is particularly pronounced
in East, South and Southeast Asia. Poverty has declined sharply in
China, India and Indonesia--countrie s that have long been
characterized by massive rural poverty and that together account for
about half the total population of develop-ing countries. Between
1981 and 2001 the percentage of rural people living on less than $1
a day decreased from 79 to 27 percent in China, 63 to 42 percent in
India, and 55 to 11 percent in Indonesia.
Even as the farmers protest against special economic zone (SEZ)
proposals in the country, Nobel Laureate and Chief Architect of
Grameen Bank and the main micro-financing body in Bangladesh,
Muhammad Yunus said on Tuesday that Indian SEZ policy is sustainable
in the long term.
"SEZ policy is definitely sustainable for India. There is a limit to
development which agriculture can achieve. For a jump in growth,
industrialisation is necessary. You have to make a choice between
agriculture and industrialisation, " Prof Yunus said on the sidelines
of a conference.
The question is on which land these projects are being set up, he
said, adding the protests led by farmers will fade away if they are
convinced that their 'barren land' will be put to productive use.
"The first step to win their favour is to make them evacuate the
barren land with decency and respect by giving adequate
compensation, " Prof Yunus added.
Since its inception, the policy to allow companies to set up SEZs in
the country has been under fire from different bodies, creating
doubts about its success.
Salim Group SEZ project in Nandigram village in East Midnapore
district of West Bengal is being opposed by the farmers.
Well Yunus saheb, you may know better.
In 1993, anticipating a U.S. ban on imports of products made using
child labor, the garment industry in Bangladesh dismissed an
estimated 50,000 children. UNICEF and local aid groups investigated
what happened to them. About 10,000 children went back to school,
but the rest ended up in much inferior occupations, including stone
breaking and child prostitution. That does not excuse the appalling
working conditions in the sweatshops, let alone the cases of forced
or unsafe labor, but advocates must recognize the severely limited
existing opportunities for the poor and the possible unintended
consequences of "fair trade" policies.
The Local Roots of Poverty
Integration into the international economy brings not only
opportunities but also problems. Even when new jobs are better than
the old ones, the transition can be wrenching. Most poor countries
provide very little effective social protection to help people who
have lost their jobs and not yet found new ones. Moreover, vast
numbers of the poor work on their own small farms or for household
enterprises. The major constraints they usually face are domestic,
such as lack of access to credit, poor infrastructure, venal
government officials and insecure land rights. Weak states,
unaccountable regimes, lopsided wealth distribution, and inept or
corrupt politicians and bureaucrats often combine to block out the
opportunities for the poor. Opening markets without relieving these
domestic constraints forces people to compete with one hand tied
behind their back. The result can be deepened poverty.
Yunus sheb is quite detached in every respect whatever happens in
Bangladesh and in this Sub Continent. he does not stand with Bangla
Inteeligentsia as same thing is seen in case of another prominent
Economist, the Indian Amartya sen.The experiences of these and other
countries demonstrate that antipoverty programs need not be blocked
by the forces of globalization. There is no "race to the bottom" in
which countries must abandon social programs to keep up
economically; in fact, social and economic goals can be mutually
supportive. Land reform, expansion of credit and services for small
producers, retraining and income support for displaced workers,
public-works programs for the unemployed, and provision of basic
education and health can enhance the productivity of workers and
farmers and thereby contribute to a country's global
competitiveness. Such programs may require a rethinking of budget
priorities in those nations and a more accountable political and
administrative framework, but the obstacles are largely domestic.
Conversely, closing the economy to international trade does not
reduce the power of the relevant vested interests: landlords,
politicians and bureaucrats, and the rich who enjoy government
subsidies. Thus, globalization is not the main cause of developing
countries' problems, contrary to the claim of critics of
globalization- -just as globalization is often not the main solution
to these problems, contrary to the claim of overenthusiastic free
traders.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who appeared before the
public on Monday for the first time a month after she ended her fast
over Singur, announced her support for the Nandigram villagers.
. This week the government froze the approval process. SEZs have
been attacked on many fronts: by social activists, opposition
politicians and even some government members. But the fiercest
critics are those defending the right of farmers to their plots—what
even Palaniappan Chidambaram, India's finance minister, calls "the
sacred tie between the tiller and the land".
In a poor agrarian country, the charge of bullying farmers to pander
to big business can be a winding blow, especially as the ruling
coalition, led by the Congress Party, relies on the Communist
parties for its parliamentary majority. Not coincidentally, West
Bengal has been ruled for 30 years by the Communists, who until a
few years ago opposed most industrialisation. The West Bengal
opposition is now relishing the chance to accuse the commies of
cosying up to capitalists at the expense of the peasantry. "In a
Communist state, sir! The poor peasants are being shot with bullets
by the Communist party police," says Madan Mitra, a leader of the
opposition Trinamul Congress Party. With elections looming in four
other states, including the most populous, Uttar Pradesh, the
central government will not rush to unblock SEZs.
In India, Gandhiji was able to mobilise the latent anger of a
colonised society into a weapon of peaceful resistance. By involving
the women of the country in the freedom movement he accomplished
through the moral force of Satyagraha what the two World Wars had
done for the West. Women gained a professional status. They could
compete with men on the factory floor in the industrialised
countries. While in India they could aspire to the more elite
professions such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, scientists, writers
and cultural activists. For such a rigidly stratified society it was
perhaps to be expected that even the liberation of women should take
place along class ines.
In this entertaining and insightful examination of the classic,
Gayatri Chatterjee, winner of the President's Gold Medal for the
Best Book on Cinema, outlines the film's eventful production
history, the ambitious vision of its director, and the brilliance of
its stars. She also analyses its epic-style narrative, the
mythological underpinnings, the many references to the history of a
country in transition, and its relation to post-Independence culture
and politics, to show why Mother India is a cornerstone of Indian
cinema.
Starring
Nargis, Raj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, Kanhaiyalal
Story and Script
Mehboob Khan
Dialogue
Vajahat Mirza, S. Ali Raza
Cinematography
Faredoon Irani
Editing
Shamsudin Kadri
Art Direction
V.H. Palnitkar
Choreography
Chiman Seth
Lyrics
Shakeel Badayuni
Music
Naushad
Directed by
Mehboob Khan
The film
Mother India is the ultimate tribute to Indian Womanhood! This epic
saga of the sufferings of an Indian peasant woman has an inherent
and perennial appeal, being typical of the Indian situation. So
tremendous was its success that the film is in fact a reference
point in the long-suffering mother genre and is like an Indian Gone
With the Wind (1939).
The film is an opulent colour remake of Mehboob's earlier austere
Black and White film Aurat (1940). Raised in a village himself,
Mehboob himself was familiar with rural life, its customs and
manners, its soil, seasons, sufferings and joys and creates a
totally Indian experience in milieu, detail, characters and dramatic
incidents.However Mehboob raises all these elements to make a highly
charged film that is larger than life and one that admittedly takes
a totally romanticized look at rural India.
The film makes heavy use of psychoanalytic and other kinds of
symbolism and nationalist allegory. (The peasants forming a chorus
outlining a map of India) In fact everything about the film is
highly charged right down to the strong, earthy central performance
of Nargis. The film represents the pinnacle of her career and won
her the Best actress award at the prestigious Karlovy Vary festival.
To quote the Filmindia review of the film...
"Remove Nargis and there is no Mother India. Nargis is both the body
and soul of the picture. Never before has this girl given such a
superb and dynamic performance. Nargis reaches such rare heights of
emotion that it will be difficult to find another artiste in the
entire film world today to compare with her. Nargis lives the role
better than Radha could have lived it."
Other strong performances in the film come from Sunil Dutt as the
wayward son Birju (Initially Dilip Kumar and Hollywood star Sabu
were in the running for this role and it is said that Dilip Kumar
made Ganga Jamuna (1961) with himself as the wayward brother as an
answer to Mother India), Master Sajid as the young Birju and
Kanhaiyalal as the creepily, evil moneylender Sukhilala.
Incidentally Kanhaiyalal had played the role of Sukhilala in Aurat
as well!
It is a well-known story that while shooting for the film, Nargis
was trapped amidst lit haystacks. As the flames got higher and
higher, Sunil Dutt playing her rebellious son, Birju, in the film
ran through the fire and rescued her. He proposed to her and Nargis
married Sunil Dutt and quit films after marriage. She did lend her
voice and we do see her silhouette in Sunil Dutt's 'one actor movie
monument' Yaadein (1964) and she did make a comeback of sorts
expertly playing a woman with a split personality in Raat Aur Din
(1967) winning the National Award for the same.
Mother India released in 1957 was greatly lauded by both the public
and critics. To quote Filmfare in its review in the issue of
November 22, 1957...
"Every once in a while comes a motion picture which helps the the
industry to cover the mile to the milestone. Mehboob's magnum opus,
Mother India, which was released in the fortnight is one such film."
Even the hard to please Baburao Patel who had panned some of
Mehboob's earlier films mercilessly had to admit...
Mehboob's Mother India is an unforgettable epic...the greatest
picture produced in India during the forty and odd years of
filmmaking in this country. In its epic sweep it is perhaps as great
as Gone With The Wind produced by Hollywood but it is greater than
the Hollywood picture in theme and spirit, for Mother India portrays
the eternal story of the soil - the mother of countless millions of
human beings."
Mother India's spectacular success was ironically noted in Vijay
Anand's Kala Bazaar (1960) when Dev Anand is seen selling tickets in
black for Mother India's premier! The Film became the first Indian
Film to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Film Category
and at the 1958 Academy Awards lost out to another masterpiece
Federico Fellini's Nights of Caberia by a solitary vote at
Palash Biswas
(Contact: Palash C Biswas, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata-700110,
India)
mother India has been a favourite film in our peasant family. With
Do Bigha jameen this film portrays the Rural India in the same way
as depicted by Munshi Prem Chand in his epic novel godan. I first
saw the film in my childhood. I enjoyed the film anytime whenevr it
was telecasted on small screen as I never miss an opportunity to see
Teesri Kasam. Recently I saw Mother India once again and it seems to
be the most relevent film till this date, as I feel. No less than
Twenty thousand farmers died victimised by Globalistion since 1998.
Bidarbh has becom famous for suicides. suicide by a farmer does not
stun any one today. It is a dull routine of everyday life in Rural
India. I find a new meaning of Samu`s leaving his family and the
fight launched by his wife , the mother India. The bleeding
continues and no river , no ocean in this world seems to sustain
without the blood of peasants worldwide. This is globalisation. Is
any one interested to do a remake of Mother India in the Sez context
as they have done so many times?
The stotry line:
Radha (Nargis) now an old woman remembers her past. She remembers
her married life. The family has to work extremely hard to pay off
the moneylender Sukhilala (Kanhaiyalal) . Her husband (Raj Kumar)
loses both his arms in an accident and feeling useless abandons the
family. Alone, Radha has to raise her children while fending off
financial as well as sexual pressures from Sukhilala. One son dies
in a flood, and in later years one son Ramu (Rajendra Kumar) grows
to be a dutiful son while the other Birju (Sunil Dutt) becomes a
rebel committed to direct, violent action. Finally to preserve the
honour of the village, Radha puts an end to Birju's rebellious
activities by shooting him down.
Until recently, before satellite television changed viewing habits,
Mehboob Khan's Mother India (1957), could boast the remarkable
distinction of having been constantly in distribution since its
first release. Rooted both in Hindu mythology and in the collective
experience of a newly independent nation-state on the brink of
industrialization and social change, the film, starring screen
legends like Nargis, Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar, is a family
melodrama that moves inexorably towards tragedy and renewal.The most
important film of its time and now a national epic, Mother India
portrayed rural life as the true 'essence' of India. The heroine,
Radha, embodied the moral values and social customs that form the
basis of traditional Indian society. Nargis Dutt played a role that
no one could repeat. Not even our darlings like Shabana azmi, Smita
Patil or konkana sensharma. Hitherto nargis played typical raj
kapoor romantic films and she had been best known as in pair. She
felt the pain, pangs and passion of real indian rural woman. She
challanges goddess laxmi, ` Kabhi Maa Banke dekho'. Her cry is an
eternal cry of mothre India, ` Mere Bacche Bhookhe hai ( My children
are Hungry). Well, the real mother India is also crying all the time
that her childre are starving. Only intellects like Mahashweta devi,
Medha, Arundhati and a section of Kolkata Intellegentsia seem to
have listened the cry. Others who use art, literature and culture as
a best tool to promote prostitution, are quite detached. best
examples are Sunil Gango, Saumitra chatterjee, Mrinal sen, amartya
sen and Md Yunus. Who remained silent during all the turmoil in
singur and nandigram, have come out of den to save the brahmin
Pustak Mela.
Rajkumar played not a lesser role as he reprents the helplessness of
Indian peasants. He wipes the sindoor on her wife`s forehead. Better
expressesed is the suicide trend , globalisation and SEZ econmy, in
this single shot.
Though we don1t face any resistance as we see in Benegal films
Ankur, Nishant and Manthan. Shrikakulam , Telengana or Naxalbari had
not been the inspiration for Mehbbob. We may not find nandigram or
singur in Mother India, but we definitely see shadow of Bidarbh and
Kalahandi all the way. Life struggle of Inda`s rural underclass
population is honestly portrayed without any political
dimention.Radha stood as a symbol of Indian womanhood and a new
independent nation.In 1947 India gained independence from British
rule. The country was caught between the need to modernise and
continue the technological advances of the last two decades, and the
need to maintain traditional moral values and avoid cultural
decline.Cities were at the centre of many social and economic
changes. Seen as the source of employment and wealth they attracted
thousands of migrant workers from the villages. In this period of
transition, films looked at the question of national identity and
what the meaning of being Indian meant. They explored issues of
modernity versus tradition, of urban life versus the rural ideal.
Cities were projected as corrupt and evil while villages were seen
to preserve social and moral values.
You may witness the sets of Mother India real anywhere in India
thanks to NRI Ruling Brahminical classes whic have enslaved the
Rural India by Hindutva politics of different brands in cludin Left,
Right and centrist. Just vist bidarbh. You may chose singur. Why
Nandigram also seems to be very appropriate set for mothre India.
Will Mrina sen, Gautam Ghosh, rRtuparna, Aparna sen, Shyam benegal,
Maniratnam, Adoor, anyone would like to shoot live?
Do all the different facets of her suffering allow "Mother India"
to reach a moment of absolute clarity at the end? Is she exhibiting
a healthy anger, or is it the sentimentalised anger of those who
like to believe that there is nothing more ennobling than a victim
who accepts her fate. These ambiguities, along with the lushly
beautiful image of Nargis toiling away in glorious cinematic colour,
are what make the myth of "Mother India" so compelling. In a poor
country it is almost a consolation to be a victim. Women have been
persuaded to play this role till it has almost become a hereditary
right to become widows, to become "satis" to become temple
prostitutes, to be labelled as "unclean", or "barren" or to be
regarded as property to be bartered as the system demands. This type
of anger fragments a society and destroys an individual into
thinking that he or she is just a helpless plaything for the gods,
or economic forces to control or destroy, or the next well meaning
NGO to bachao. It is quite the opposite of the positive anger that a
Vivekananda, or a Gandhi, or any of the social reformers of the pre-
Independence era, were able to instil.
REACHING villages in eastern Midnapur, 120km (75 miles) south of
Kolkata, where a branch of the Ganges runs into the sea, has become
an ordeal. Trenches have been cut into the approach roads and bricks
and palm-trunks piled over them; no vehicle bigger than a motorcycle
can pass. Beside the barricades, black rags hang from bamboo
flagstaffs—in honour, the locals say, of half a dozen villagers
killed this month in a battle with the state government's goons. At
the entrance to one village, Gar Chakraberia, a burnt-out police van
bears their epitaph: "We will never let industry take our
motherland." The cause of the conflict is a plan by West Bengal's
Communist government to grant land to an Indonesian conglomerate,
the Salim Group, which wants to build petrochemical plants over
Midnapur's fishponds and paddy fields. The group has been promised
9,000 hectares (22,000 acres) in the form of two special economic
zones (SEZs)—havens for export-driven industry, with light taxation
and other perks. The government hopes that, as in China, SEZs will
boost the development of infrastructure and manufacturing. Since it
passed a law offering improved terms for investors in the zones last
year, 63 have been approved, 237 have been all but approved and over
400 are being considered.
The film, Mother india begins with the finishing of a water canal to
the village set in the present. Radha (Nargis), as the 'mother' of
the village is asked to open the canal and remembers back to her
past when she was newly married, mirroring the new independence of
India.The wedding between Radha and Shamu (Raaj Kumar) was paid for
by Radha's mother in law who raised a loan from the moneylender,
Sukhilala. This event starts the spiral of poverty and hardship
which Radha endures. The conditions of the loan are disputed but the
village elders decide in favour of the moneylender after which Shamu
and Radha are forced to pay three quarters of their crop as interest
on the loan of 500 rupees.Whilst trying to bring more of their land
into use to alleviate their poverty, Shamu's arms are crushed by a
boulder. He is shamed by his helplessness and is humiliated by
others in the village, deciding that he is no use to his family he
leaves and does not return. Soon after this, Radha's mother in law
dies.
Radha continues to work in the fields with her children and gives
birth again. Sukhilala offers to help alleviate her poverty in
return for Radha marrying him, but she refuses to "sell herself". A
storm sweeps through the village destroying the harvest and killing
Radha's youngest child - the villagers start to migrate but decide
to stay and rebuild on the urging of Radha.
The film then skips forward several years to when Radha's two
surviving children, Birju and Ramu, are young men. Birju, embittered
by the exactions of Sukhilala since he was a child takes out his
frustrations by pestering the village girls, especially Sukhilala's
daughter. Ramu, by contrast, has a calmer temper and is married soon
after. He becomes a father but his wife is soon absorbed into the
cycle of poverty in the family.
Birju's anger finally becomes dangerous and, after being provoked,
attacks Sukhilala and his daughter as well as violently lashing out
at his family. He is chased out of the village and becomes a bandit.
On the day of the weeding of Sukhilala's daughter, Birju returns to
take his revenge. He kills Sukhilala and takes his daughter - but
Radha, who had promised that Birju would not do harm, shoots Birju
who dies in her arms. The film ends with her opening of the canal
and reddish water flowing into the fields.
this story is repeated again and again. Now it has got the global
dimention, as not only the feudal lord, this time the entire state
machinery is invoved to evict Indian peasants from their land an
life.
Real Double speak may not be compared with mother India at all.
Leader of one of the major constituents of the Left Front, Mr
Debabrata Biswas is the general secretary of the All-India Forward
Bloc, the party founded by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1939.
Holding the party post for the third consecutive term since 1997,
sixty-one-year- old Mr Biswas entered politics as a student leader.
A Rajya Sabha member for the third term, Mr Biswas hails from Bagnam
village, just 10 km from Singur, the Hooghly village where the West
Bengal government had to use the police to control protests over
land acquisition for the Tata small car project.
Singur received nationwide attention and brought Left Front unity
under strain.
Many Left Front leaders, including Mr Biswas, complained that the
confusion arose because of lack of transparency in the land
acquisition process. But despite the Left supporters have come out
against SEZ in Nandigram, the leaders of the left all around are out
to save the front, the governments in states and centre and the
interests of the ruling classes.
In a poor agrarian country, the charge of bullying farmers to pander
to big business can be a winding blow, especially as the ruling
coalition, led by the Congress Party, relies on the Communist
parties for its parliamentary majority. Not coincidentally, West
Bengal has been ruled for 30 years by the Communists, who until a
few years ago opposed most industrialisation. The West Bengal
opposition is now relishing the chance to accuse the commies of
cosying up to capitalists at the expense of the peasantry. "In a
Communist state, sir! The poor peasants are being shot with bullets
by the Communist party police," says Madan Mitra, a leader of the
opposition Trinamul Congress Party. With elections looming in four
other states, including the most populous, Uttar Pradesh, the
central government will not rush to unblock SEZs.
Tagore wrote Bahart Tirtha, Jana gana Mana and dui Bigha Jami.
Bankim wrote Vande Mataram and anando Math- all depicting what India
was under Colonial rule. Mother India is essentially a story of free
India. And what a freedom have we got. The peasants are free to
commit suicide and the poor population living under poverty line has
got the right to succumb anytime. What sovereignity have we got that
we follow every dictate from Washingto and World Bank and IMF play
non constitutional agents to run the government alligning with
foriegn capital and corporations with a sole aim to protect US
interests anywhere in this world.
Nature and man seem to be different. different are the polity and
society. We have surrenedered our culture and laguages, folk and
music, arts and crafts the entire production system. Kanhaialal
would not have played the roles played by Dr Manmohan singh,
Buddhdev Bhattacharya, Left leaders and chief ministers of India. In
Mehboob's famous film, "Mother India" the most electrifying moment
comes at the end, when Nargis, Indian cinema's most enduring
heroine, picks up a gun and kills her own favourite son Birju, who
has become a dacoit, when he comes to take revenge against the
moneylender at whose hands his mother has suffered all her life. It
is more than 40 years since "Mother India" was shown in 1957, and
few people will remember the extraordinary hold that the film had on
the imagination of the viewers. It was in part a response to the
trauma of Partition, where like the Birju figure, one part of the
country had turned against the Motherland. In another light, it was
an epic poem to the suffering image of the Indian woman as
exemplified in the transformation of Nargis, from a beautiful bride,
to the anguished wife, mother, tiller of the soil, a single woman
whose body is still desired by the greedy moneylender and finally
the saviour of the village, who goes against her innermost instincts
to kill her son. You couldn't get more reactionary than that. It's a
triumph of the patriarchy where even the most oppressed of victims
turns around and supports the old feudal order. There could be no
bigger sacrifice than that of a Mother killing her own son for the
greater good of society, even a society that has just ground her
into the soil.
Not only Singur or Nandigram or Barasat or Bhangad or Haripur, not
only Maharashtra and uttar Pradesh, now Punjab farmers also have
lodged their protest agaist the murder of Rural India. Farmers of
punajab clashed on Wednesday with Police in Barnala to save their
green fields.
Protesting against forcible acquisition of the farmers' land and
seeking its restoration, activists of various farmer bodies today
clashed with the Police in Barnala. The farmers allege that the
government was forcibly acquiring farmers' lands and protecting the
interests of big business houses. They have also accused the
government of forcibly handing over 376 acres of land in three
Barnala villages to Trident under the same policy. On the other
hand, on Tuesday, January 30, 2007,Trinamool Congress chief Mamata
Banerjee has issued a fresh ultimatum on Singur.It was her first
public appearance since she was released from hospital after her 25-
day hunger strike last month. The Trinamool leader warned that if
the Tatas and the West Bengal government did not do a rethink on the
Tata Motors factory at Singur within the next 10 days, she would not
be responsible for the trouble that was inevitable.
Every Tata has his legacy and Ratan Tata, the man with a rare mix of
grace, composure and steely nerves, has created his own by winning
the Corus battle against odds just as he steered the people's car
project at Singur in West Bengal. Since taking the reins of the
$21.9 billion Tata business empire in 1991, Ratan Tata, 69, has only
steeled the group's reputation of integrity, goodwill and
competence. To the Indian polity, Tata, who is heading the
Investment Commission, is an apolitical policymaker, while to
corporate India, he is a great visionary and for the group, he is an
outstanding entrepreneur. The takeover of the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker
is especially close to the heart of Ratan Tata, as it coincides with
Tata Steel's 100th year. Tata Steel was founded in 1907 despite
hurdles from the then British colonial masters. But it took a lot of
perseverance on his part before the Corus deal was finally clinched.
The last five years have seen Tatas emerging as India's biggest
acquirer of global entities, adding one company after another to the
kitty of the group, which otherwise is also a major expansion drive
with an investment of over Rs 180,000 crore (Rs 1,800 billion) in
the next 5-7 years.
Therefore, it doesn't come as a surprise that he is many a times
asked to lead corporate giants, along with the Prime Minister, to
showcase India as an investment destination.
Mamata Banerjee on Sunady accused the West Bengal government of
having "double standards", saying it was enforcing prohibitory
orders on common people at Singur in Hooghly district while helping
the Tatas go ahead with the work for setting up their small car
factory there.
"Everyone is equal before the law. Then why is it that commoners are
not being allowed to enter Singur through enforcement orders under
section 144 CrPC," she said.
"While there is one law for the common people why then there should
be a separate provision for the Tatas," she said adding "We are
opposed to setting up industries on fertile agricultural land. Let
the industries come up on non-agricultural land."
She said "provocative" statements of the ruling party leaders and
the role of the "callous" administration had created the impasse at
Nandigram in east Midnapur district where the opposition parties are
protesting, vowing to oppose any move for acquisition of farmland
for the proposed SEZ of Indonesian business house Salim Group.
"Similarly, the government attitude is responsible for the present
situation at Singur," she said. Banerjee was reacting to the clashes
between Trinamool supporters and the police near Singur today during
a demonstration to protest the start of work on the Tatas` small car
project. The Trinamool chief observed a 25-day hunger strike last
month demanding re-location of the plant, while social activist
Medha Patkar also made repeated attempts to reach Singur where
prohibitory orders were clamped by the administration following
initial protests. Official sources had earlier said the prohibitory
orders were in force as it was apprehended that some groups opposed
to farmland acquisition might "instigate trouble".
Besides the forcible land acquisition for SEZs, the farmers allege
that it is the government's failure to reach out to them at the
grassroots that has hurt the community the most. The farmers said
they would not allow anyone to step into their land and would
continue with the stir.
Meanwhile Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus says SEZ policy is
sustainable > He follows the Amarty Sen linewhich is quite in vogue
in Asian countries. Economics has always been a tool for capitalism
as Adam smith invented the genre.he case for free trade rests on the
age-old principle of comparative advantage, the idea that countries
are better off when they export the things they are best at
producing, and import the rest. Most mainstream economists accept
the principle, but even they have serious differences of opinion on
the balance of potential benefits and actual costs from trade and on
the importance of social protection for the poor. Free traders
believe that the rising tide of international specialization and
investment lifts all boats. Others point out that many poor people
lack the capacity to adjust, retool and relocate with changing
market conditions. These scholars argue that the benefits of
specialization materialize in the long run, over which people and
resources are assumed to be fully mobile, whereas the adjustments
can cause pain in the short run.
The debate among economists is a paragon of civility compared
withthe one taking place in the streets. Antiglobalizers' central
claim is that globalization is making the rich richer and the poor
poorer; proglobalizers assert that it actually helps the poor. But
if one looks at the factual evidence, the matter is rather more
complicated. On the basis of household survey data collected by
different agencies, the World Bank estimates the fraction of the
population in developing countries that falls below the $1-a-day
poverty line (at 1993 prices)--an admittedly crude but
internationally comparable level. By this measure, extreme poverty
is declining in the aggregate. The trend is particularly pronounced
in East, South and Southeast Asia. Poverty has declined sharply in
China, India and Indonesia--countrie s that have long been
characterized by massive rural poverty and that together account for
about half the total population of develop-ing countries. Between
1981 and 2001 the percentage of rural people living on less than $1
a day decreased from 79 to 27 percent in China, 63 to 42 percent in
India, and 55 to 11 percent in Indonesia.
Even as the farmers protest against special economic zone (SEZ)
proposals in the country, Nobel Laureate and Chief Architect of
Grameen Bank and the main micro-financing body in Bangladesh,
Muhammad Yunus said on Tuesday that Indian SEZ policy is sustainable
in the long term.
"SEZ policy is definitely sustainable for India. There is a limit to
development which agriculture can achieve. For a jump in growth,
industrialisation is necessary. You have to make a choice between
agriculture and industrialisation, " Prof Yunus said on the sidelines
of a conference.
The question is on which land these projects are being set up, he
said, adding the protests led by farmers will fade away if they are
convinced that their 'barren land' will be put to productive use.
"The first step to win their favour is to make them evacuate the
barren land with decency and respect by giving adequate
compensation, " Prof Yunus added.
Since its inception, the policy to allow companies to set up SEZs in
the country has been under fire from different bodies, creating
doubts about its success.
Salim Group SEZ project in Nandigram village in East Midnapore
district of West Bengal is being opposed by the farmers.
Well Yunus saheb, you may know better.
In 1993, anticipating a U.S. ban on imports of products made using
child labor, the garment industry in Bangladesh dismissed an
estimated 50,000 children. UNICEF and local aid groups investigated
what happened to them. About 10,000 children went back to school,
but the rest ended up in much inferior occupations, including stone
breaking and child prostitution. That does not excuse the appalling
working conditions in the sweatshops, let alone the cases of forced
or unsafe labor, but advocates must recognize the severely limited
existing opportunities for the poor and the possible unintended
consequences of "fair trade" policies.
The Local Roots of Poverty
Integration into the international economy brings not only
opportunities but also problems. Even when new jobs are better than
the old ones, the transition can be wrenching. Most poor countries
provide very little effective social protection to help people who
have lost their jobs and not yet found new ones. Moreover, vast
numbers of the poor work on their own small farms or for household
enterprises. The major constraints they usually face are domestic,
such as lack of access to credit, poor infrastructure, venal
government officials and insecure land rights. Weak states,
unaccountable regimes, lopsided wealth distribution, and inept or
corrupt politicians and bureaucrats often combine to block out the
opportunities for the poor. Opening markets without relieving these
domestic constraints forces people to compete with one hand tied
behind their back. The result can be deepened poverty.
Yunus sheb is quite detached in every respect whatever happens in
Bangladesh and in this Sub Continent. he does not stand with Bangla
Inteeligentsia as same thing is seen in case of another prominent
Economist, the Indian Amartya sen.The experiences of these and other
countries demonstrate that antipoverty programs need not be blocked
by the forces of globalization. There is no "race to the bottom" in
which countries must abandon social programs to keep up
economically; in fact, social and economic goals can be mutually
supportive. Land reform, expansion of credit and services for small
producers, retraining and income support for displaced workers,
public-works programs for the unemployed, and provision of basic
education and health can enhance the productivity of workers and
farmers and thereby contribute to a country's global
competitiveness. Such programs may require a rethinking of budget
priorities in those nations and a more accountable political and
administrative framework, but the obstacles are largely domestic.
Conversely, closing the economy to international trade does not
reduce the power of the relevant vested interests: landlords,
politicians and bureaucrats, and the rich who enjoy government
subsidies. Thus, globalization is not the main cause of developing
countries' problems, contrary to the claim of critics of
globalization- -just as globalization is often not the main solution
to these problems, contrary to the claim of overenthusiastic free
traders.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who appeared before the
public on Monday for the first time a month after she ended her fast
over Singur, announced her support for the Nandigram villagers.
. This week the government froze the approval process. SEZs have
been attacked on many fronts: by social activists, opposition
politicians and even some government members. But the fiercest
critics are those defending the right of farmers to their plots—what
even Palaniappan Chidambaram, India's finance minister, calls "the
sacred tie between the tiller and the land".
In a poor agrarian country, the charge of bullying farmers to pander
to big business can be a winding blow, especially as the ruling
coalition, led by the Congress Party, relies on the Communist
parties for its parliamentary majority. Not coincidentally, West
Bengal has been ruled for 30 years by the Communists, who until a
few years ago opposed most industrialisation. The West Bengal
opposition is now relishing the chance to accuse the commies of
cosying up to capitalists at the expense of the peasantry. "In a
Communist state, sir! The poor peasants are being shot with bullets
by the Communist party police," says Madan Mitra, a leader of the
opposition Trinamul Congress Party. With elections looming in four
other states, including the most populous, Uttar Pradesh, the
central government will not rush to unblock SEZs.
In India, Gandhiji was able to mobilise the latent anger of a
colonised society into a weapon of peaceful resistance. By involving
the women of the country in the freedom movement he accomplished
through the moral force of Satyagraha what the two World Wars had
done for the West. Women gained a professional status. They could
compete with men on the factory floor in the industrialised
countries. While in India they could aspire to the more elite
professions such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, scientists, writers
and cultural activists. For such a rigidly stratified society it was
perhaps to be expected that even the liberation of women should take
place along class ines.
In this entertaining and insightful examination of the classic,
Gayatri Chatterjee, winner of the President's Gold Medal for the
Best Book on Cinema, outlines the film's eventful production
history, the ambitious vision of its director, and the brilliance of
its stars. She also analyses its epic-style narrative, the
mythological underpinnings, the many references to the history of a
country in transition, and its relation to post-Independence culture
and politics, to show why Mother India is a cornerstone of Indian
cinema.
Starring
Nargis, Raj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, Kanhaiyalal
Story and Script
Mehboob Khan
Dialogue
Vajahat Mirza, S. Ali Raza
Cinematography
Faredoon Irani
Editing
Shamsudin Kadri
Art Direction
V.H. Palnitkar
Choreography
Chiman Seth
Lyrics
Shakeel Badayuni
Music
Naushad
Directed by
Mehboob Khan
The film
Mother India is the ultimate tribute to Indian Womanhood! This epic
saga of the sufferings of an Indian peasant woman has an inherent
and perennial appeal, being typical of the Indian situation. So
tremendous was its success that the film is in fact a reference
point in the long-suffering mother genre and is like an Indian Gone
With the Wind (1939).
The film is an opulent colour remake of Mehboob's earlier austere
Black and White film Aurat (1940). Raised in a village himself,
Mehboob himself was familiar with rural life, its customs and
manners, its soil, seasons, sufferings and joys and creates a
totally Indian experience in milieu, detail, characters and dramatic
incidents.However Mehboob raises all these elements to make a highly
charged film that is larger than life and one that admittedly takes
a totally romanticized look at rural India.
The film makes heavy use of psychoanalytic and other kinds of
symbolism and nationalist allegory. (The peasants forming a chorus
outlining a map of India) In fact everything about the film is
highly charged right down to the strong, earthy central performance
of Nargis. The film represents the pinnacle of her career and won
her the Best actress award at the prestigious Karlovy Vary festival.
To quote the Filmindia review of the film...
"Remove Nargis and there is no Mother India. Nargis is both the body
and soul of the picture. Never before has this girl given such a
superb and dynamic performance. Nargis reaches such rare heights of
emotion that it will be difficult to find another artiste in the
entire film world today to compare with her. Nargis lives the role
better than Radha could have lived it."
Other strong performances in the film come from Sunil Dutt as the
wayward son Birju (Initially Dilip Kumar and Hollywood star Sabu
were in the running for this role and it is said that Dilip Kumar
made Ganga Jamuna (1961) with himself as the wayward brother as an
answer to Mother India), Master Sajid as the young Birju and
Kanhaiyalal as the creepily, evil moneylender Sukhilala.
Incidentally Kanhaiyalal had played the role of Sukhilala in Aurat
as well!
It is a well-known story that while shooting for the film, Nargis
was trapped amidst lit haystacks. As the flames got higher and
higher, Sunil Dutt playing her rebellious son, Birju, in the film
ran through the fire and rescued her. He proposed to her and Nargis
married Sunil Dutt and quit films after marriage. She did lend her
voice and we do see her silhouette in Sunil Dutt's 'one actor movie
monument' Yaadein (1964) and she did make a comeback of sorts
expertly playing a woman with a split personality in Raat Aur Din
(1967) winning the National Award for the same.
Mother India released in 1957 was greatly lauded by both the public
and critics. To quote Filmfare in its review in the issue of
November 22, 1957...
"Every once in a while comes a motion picture which helps the the
industry to cover the mile to the milestone. Mehboob's magnum opus,
Mother India, which was released in the fortnight is one such film."
Even the hard to please Baburao Patel who had panned some of
Mehboob's earlier films mercilessly had to admit...
Mehboob's Mother India is an unforgettable epic...the greatest
picture produced in India during the forty and odd years of
filmmaking in this country. In its epic sweep it is perhaps as great
as Gone With The Wind produced by Hollywood but it is greater than
the Hollywood picture in theme and spirit, for Mother India portrays
the eternal story of the soil - the mother of countless millions of
human beings."
Mother India's spectacular success was ironically noted in Vijay
Anand's Kala Bazaar (1960) when Dev Anand is seen selling tickets in
black for Mother India's premier! The Film became the first Indian
Film to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Film Category
and at the 1958 Academy Awards lost out to another masterpiece
Federico Fellini's Nights of Caberia by a solitary vote at
Sri Rama
Mo :09 34 24 60 39 6
Spreading the colours of INDIA
We Are Also Run Following Groups
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/ iforINDIA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iforINDIA
http://groups.msn.com/iforINDIA/
If you visit my 360 please leave some kind of message
http://360.yahoo.com/sriramaifs
"Imagination is more important than knowledge..."
Forward to your friendsReply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages