Mother India 1957

Mother India is a 1957 Indian Bollywood social film released on Feb 14, 1957. The film is directed by Mehboob Khan, produced by Mehboob Khan under banner named Mehboob Productions.

Radha belongs to a poor farmer's family. She gets married to Shyamu, also a farmer, and both begin their lives in harmony. Shyamu's mom borrows money from a local money-lender, Sukhilal, and agrees to provide him with three fourths of the farm produce in lieu of money, to which Sukhilal agrees to, and asks her to sign a document to this effect, which she does so, not knowing that she is signing away her farm produce, as well as her mortgaging her property. Unable to bear this unpleasantness, Shyamu disappears, leaving Radha alone to bring up two sons, Ramu and Birju. While Ramu is dependable and devoted to his mom, Birju is arrogant, and crass. Birju is against Sukhilal, and would like him to turn the family's land over to them, but Sukhilal won't. Birju attacks Sukhilal, and as a result is discommunicated from his village, and turns into a bandit, bent on vengeance against the deceptive Sukhilal, much to the sorrow and dismay of his mother and brother. While Radha is hopeful that her love will make Birju mend his ways, Birju on the other hand is planning something quite the opposite.

From this INDIA, the cradle of the gods, comes this epic drama of an Indian mother, the nucleus round which revolves the tradition and culture of ages in this ancient land. . In India, woman is a part of man. With marriage she merges her individuality into her husbands and both together form a single entity in society. The one without the other is but half of the story of an eternal harmony going beyond a single birth and through seven births as the Indian sciptures say. A womans marriage is thus an eternal spiritual bond and in her absolute dedication to her husband, her single prayer is to die in the presence of her husband and be carried out by him even as a bride in death. . To this eternal Indian Woman, the home is her temple, the husband her god, the children his blessings and the land her great mother. . This is a story of one such Indian woman, a supreme symbol of millions of mothers that make this ancient land Mother India. . Radha is a village maid- a child of the soil-coy, simple and innocent. In an adjoining village lives Shamoo, a young farmer, the only son of an old peasant woman with a little land of her own- the only heirloom of her departed husband. . The old peasant woman soon mortage this land with Sukhi Lala, the village money-lender, a parasite that lives on the toil of the poor and while doing so thrives like an orchid. With the money raised thus the old lady brings Radha home as a bride for her son, Shamoo. . Among the villagers of India, a wedding is a festival of sighs and smiles. While on village weeps over the loss of Radha, the other celebrates her arrival as a new bride. In her husbands home, the young hears her mother-in-lawsaying that the little family land was mortaged for Shamoos marriage and hopes that Radhas arrival into the home would prove auspicious enough to get the land redeemed soon. . Radha, the bride of a month, immediately feels the burden of the debt on her frail shoulders and she soon throuws herself into the vortex of farm life which keeps her busy formmorn till night. Radha becomes the ideal daughter-in-law- abeautiful little goddess in a rustic community But Sukhi Lala, the money-lender whose illgotten wealth had given him an evil eye, does not fail tonotice Radhas natural charm and beauty. He sets his evil eye on her with a hope to seduce her some day. . With the first harvest in the field, Radha brings home a cradle. Her first son brings joy t the whole village. For, a son tothe farmer is an estate of the future. Only Sukhi Lala is unhappy. He demands three-fourths of the harvest as his interest on the loan. . Shamoo objects to this daylight robbery but the village panchayat votes in favour ov Sukhi Lala. The toil continues- husband and wife working together shoulder to shoulder through sun and rain. More children come into the family. Birjoo, the naughtiest of Radhas sons, is the favourite of the village. . The hopeless task of paying off the debt breaks Shamoos back. Pots and pans are soon sold to buy the necessities of life. Radha suggests the cultivation of a barren piece of land. Doing so kills a bullock. Radhas bridal jewellery brings a new bullock home but now Shamoo meets with a grievous accident-getting both his hands crushed while moving a boulder. Shamoo has now to depend on his wifes toil for his meals. . This gives Sukhi Lala an oppurtunity to taunt him saying that Shamoo was living on the earnings of his wife. Mortified and unable to face the cruelities of fate, Shamoo leaves the home one night and goes away, leaving his wife and children to the mercy of God. . After a frantic search for her husband, Radha now bravely decides to fulfill her duty towards her little children- hungry and helpless orphans of fate. . But once within those portals of sin, the Indian woman in her triumphs Her chasity, thesacred heirloom of an ancient race, demands the supreme sacrifice even of her children from the mother. She pushes aside Sukhi Lala and runs out into the fields to dig up roots to feed her two sons. . The storm passes and Radha is soon back to the fields, a greater woman . Twenty years pass. Ramoo and Birjoo are now big boys. Ramoo, the elder boy, is simple and sober. Birjoo is desperate and enterprising. Both know the grim tale of their mothers epic struggle. Birjoo is hurt because his mothers bridal bangles are still locked in the safe of Sukhi Lala. His one ambition is to restore them to her. Birjoo soon learns to hate Sukhi Lala and creates money violent incidents which embarrass Radha. Birjoo soon becomes a highway-man. . Birjoo, who had sworn to avenge himself against Sukhi Lal, kidnaps Sukhi Lalas only daughter right in the midst of her wedding ceremony Now begins a tale of the glory that is the Indian woman. Plough in had, Rahda goes to the fields with her children to woo Mother to yield her bounties. Her life becomes an epic of toil and tears punctuated by prayer. But Fate has a design of its own to test human character. Floods inundate the land and Radhas little child is drowned. Another one dies of hunger asking for the grm which Sukhi Lal and brought for the seduction of his mother. . Radha has neither food or nor home- only two starving children - with Birjoo, her favourite son, in high fever crying for food. Nothing but food can save him and that food was in Sukhi Lalas home and arms. . Death has frightening pallor in announcing its approach. The brave mother is torn between the traditional chasity of her son and the fast-dying body of her little son. Her first impulse takes her to Sukhi Lalas home- a desparate mother ready to sell her honour for a handful of rice. . and puts her on horse. . But on the outskirts of the village Rahda is waiting for Birjoo. What happens next? The supreme conflict between the woman and the mother is best seen on the screen. [Source: Booklet] *.* An old peasant woman Radha is invited to inaugurate a new canal built to bring prosperity and happiness to the teeming millions of villages. She is evidently touched by the honour and she cannot help recalling her past-since the day she came to this village as a bride. . This is her story, and this is the story of millions of women of India round whom has evolved our entire culture and civilization through ages. She recalls the darkening shadwos of her family by the village Sowkar. . Here is a character, so noble, so all-en-during, so full of understanding and so great and glorious, which is unique in the wide world-a-woman. who sticks to her traditional chastity and nobility in the face of certain death threatening her favourite child a woman who sells everything that she has to feed her little ones-a woman of great courage and undying faith and confidence in the goodness of humanity a brave woman, who toils ceaselessly, day and night to keep her home fires burning-a woman of great determination, who chooses to feed her little kids with roots from the soil than sell her body to the village Sowkar to bring them comfort and relief-a stout-hearted woman, who single-handed faces the ravage and destruction of stroms and floods. She is the eternal woman of iron-will-the proud eymbol of India-that is Bharat-with faith in her heart, prayer on her lips and destiny in her hands. . "Mother India" is a story of such a great, eternal proud woman-a portrait of a peasant woman who could only be found in India. This is the story of her children Ramoo and Birju. This is the story of Sukhi Lala, the village Zamindar, who thrives on the ignorance of illiterate peasants and lives on the blood of the poor. How Radha, bravely faces and fights all odds and to her culture and herself is dramatically presented on the screen. Check out this page for more updates on Mother India.