Rachel Newsham

Screening India

Professor Brueck

13 Feb, 2010

Mother India Film Review

Mother India, a film by Mehboob Khan, follows the life of a traditional Indian woman who is faced with many trials and difficult decisions. Her ability to persevere through these trials and hold firmly to her morals distinguishes Radha as an extreme example of a traditional Indian woman and mother who is willing to renounce all for the sake of upholding dharma, the law of ethical conduct. The most important theme played out in Radha’s character is the religious based concept of preserving a woman’s honor or lãj, specifically in terms of chastity.

The first part of the film is used to create the idea that the land represents the nation. This film was created ten years after the independence and partition of India. One of the film’s themes is to address the Muslims who have left India after the partition and call them home. In the scene with the villagers dancing within the sheaves of wheat they have formed an outline of the country of India. With careful notice, we see that East and West Pakistan have not been removed from the outline. This theme is also portrayed in the preceding scene where Radha is calling out to the other villagers not to leave. In her moving song, she begs them not to abandon their home claiming that: “the earth is still your heart,” referring to the idea that India is still the Muslim’s motherland and they should not abandon her.

The setting of this film is in rural India where villagers must depend on the grace of nature and Sukhilala, the local moneylender. The film opens with the marriage of Radha and Shamu. When she enters her husband’s home, Radha discovers that her mother-in-law has pawned off most of their land in order to pay for the wedding. Radha, as an “ideal” traditional Indian woman and bride, is shown as diligent, hardworking, modest, and loving towards her husband. Reminiscent of a renouncer, she offers to sell her gold bangles in order to buy back their land. Her husband refuses, and they decide to work on an unruly plot of land that is filled with boulders. In their endeavors to clear the land, Shamu looses both of his arms. He is humiliated by Sukhilala and leaves his family believing that he is only an extra burden. Radha, much like the goddess in The Song of Krishna, loves Shamu and unwaveringly hopes for his return throughout the film.

The plot spirals downward from here with her mother-in-law’s death leaving Radha alone to take care of her ever-growing family. Sukhilala comes to offer her help in return for her services as a mistress, but she refuses. She has her young sons work alongside her to clear the field and plant a very hopeful crop. Right before harvest, a storm comes and sweeps away the crop along with two of Radha’s children. Unable to provide food for her remaining two sons, Radha turns to Sukhilala. As she is about to relinquish her lãj, she looks to the shrine of a goddess and is reminded of her duty to uphold dharma, which, in this case, symbolizes her chastity.

She returns to her sons and they work diligently to get back on their feet. The film skips a few years and we return to a village that has become very prosperous. Although Radha has not succeeded in paying back the moneylender, her sons have grown up into healthy young men with hearts full of love for both their mother and girls of the village. The oldest son, Ramu, marries the girl of his dreams while Birju, the rebellious younger son, is refused marriage by his prospective father-in-law. Seeing that he has no hope of gaining Chanda’s hand in marriage, Birju focuses his efforts on avenging the past grievances of his mother.

The last section of the movie is about Birju’s revenge. Unable to learn the knowledge within Sukhilala’s record books, Birju turns to thievery in order to regain his mother’s bangles, land, and honor. During Sukhilala’s daughter’s wedding ceremony, Birju makes a grand entrance with a group of rebels on horseback. After finding his mother’s gold bangles, he kills Sukhilala and captures his daughter Rupa, marking the climax of the movie.

The end of the climax comes when Radha shoots Birju. Faced with a moral dilemma, Radha views Birju’s intended violation of Rupa’s honor as a violation of the entire village. In an extreme example of renouncement, she places the honor of another woman before her love and commitment to her son by killing him, thus upholding dharma and canonizing her character as the example of the ultimate woman.

The similarities between Birju and Sukhilala are important in understanding an ironic twist in the film. By the end of the film, Birju’s character has assimilated into a character much like that of Sukhilala’s. As a moneylender, Sukhilala was regarded as a thief. Similarly, after finding his work to be in vain, Birju gave up on an honest living by taking up a life of thievery. Birju also takes on Sukhilala’s character in his conquest of Rupa. Even though he left Radha with a choice, Sukhilala had tried to take away her honor by making her a mistress. Birju, in his desire to avenge his mother, similarly tried to take away Rupa’s honor. In his desire to defeat his enemy, Birju left behind the rules of dharma and conformed to the very character he was determined to destroy.

Although this film can be hard to sit through, I enjoyed watching the characters of Radha and Birju develop. Both of them had to decide between the selfish tendency of taking the easy way out or the path of upholding dharma, which included many sacrifices. While Radha chose the path of a renouncer, Birju chose the path of the rebel. Birju’s journey led to his death, but by sacrificing her son, Radha gained the reputation of being the mother of the entire village. This film seems to point out the idea that although performing one’s duty often entails a great amount of suffering, the end reward is both far-reaching and well worth the effort.