One of the pinnacles of world cinema, after all these years Mother India still has the power to put you through an emotional mangle showing the relentless battle against poverty of all kinds. But if Nargis hadn't been the star what then? It was her performance in here that was so spellbinding, usually sublime occasionally melodramatic but always riveting. I don't think anyone else could have made Mehboob's expert quasi-Soviet propagandising so palatable either. It was a seminal film, a nowhere near perfect roller-coaster that emotionally engages the viewer immediately to the bittersweet end.
In flashback the story is family take a loan from a moneylender to pay for a wedding and stay in debt for decades simply repaying the interest and not even touching the principal. The literally grinding poverty is passed down to the children who do their best but gradually question the original deal. As the good times and the tragedies go by it's all performed in a glorious colour, with some glorious photography full of national or emotional symbolism and some seemingly effortless glorious songs from Naushad & Badayuni. Although before tonight I last saw it decades ago it still looked good in black & white. Even if it's Nargis's film there's still some fine acting from Raaj Kumar (whether living or from the beyond), Rajendra Kumar and the manic Sunil Dutt.
As the point behind the film is not entirely lost on me in that the bitterness of the hopeless past was to be replaced with the optimism of the future India, proud of its tradition but full of the vim needed to be a world power may I sorrowfully point out: British rule certainly did the Indian peasant no favours, but the Indian capitalist class simply continues with that policy against worker and peasant alike. Godless Profit will destroy Tradition every time; also going to Mars means more to the present Indian government than feeding the starving. Mehboob preferred indigenous usurers and parasites taking apparent control of their collective destiny; I'd be interested in seeing his 1940 film Aurat which supposedly was the original of Mother India, made when it was still British India. "If Life is poison we must drink it" Lata sings as admonition to the peasants to work till they drop and are finally happy - but Life is seldom poison to the carefree few who own the land and means of production. And many iconic images and framings reinforce the view that we're all in it together even when as ever we're not. On the other hand when Nargis later became a politician she was right to criticise the film director Satyajit Ray and his muddy Pather Panchali as one-sided – there not only has to be an invisible Sun, there always is – love, hope and health are also there together with blood, sweat and tears.
At 130 minutes in when Nargis says "Won't you come to see your grandson?" it's just about the last tearjerking straw, an unparallelled poignant moment out of so much in here that's memorable for one reason or another. Personally that one astounding line is worth the waiting for. The whole epic doesn't seem too long to me (and Bir Ju's story in full could've added hours to it), but beauty is in the eyes – and ears – of the beholder; a wonderful tale, keep right on to the end of the road.
In flashback the story is family take a loan from a moneylender to pay for a wedding and stay in debt for decades simply repaying the interest and not even touching the principal. The literally grinding poverty is passed down to the children who do their best but gradually question the original deal. As the good times and the tragedies go by it's all performed in a glorious colour, with some glorious photography full of national or emotional symbolism and some seemingly effortless glorious songs from Naushad & Badayuni. Although before tonight I last saw it decades ago it still looked good in black & white. Even if it's Nargis's film there's still some fine acting from Raaj Kumar (whether living or from the beyond), Rajendra Kumar and the manic Sunil Dutt.
As the point behind the film is not entirely lost on me in that the bitterness of the hopeless past was to be replaced with the optimism of the future India, proud of its tradition but full of the vim needed to be a world power may I sorrowfully point out: British rule certainly did the Indian peasant no favours, but the Indian capitalist class simply continues with that policy against worker and peasant alike. Godless Profit will destroy Tradition every time; also going to Mars means more to the present Indian government than feeding the starving. Mehboob preferred indigenous usurers and parasites taking apparent control of their collective destiny; I'd be interested in seeing his 1940 film Aurat which supposedly was the original of Mother India, made when it was still British India. "If Life is poison we must drink it" Lata sings as admonition to the peasants to work till they drop and are finally happy - but Life is seldom poison to the carefree few who own the land and means of production. And many iconic images and framings reinforce the view that we're all in it together even when as ever we're not. On the other hand when Nargis later became a politician she was right to criticise the film director Satyajit Ray and his muddy Pather Panchali as one-sided – there not only has to be an invisible Sun, there always is – love, hope and health are also there together with blood, sweat and tears.
At 130 minutes in when Nargis says "Won't you come to see your grandson?" it's just about the last tearjerking straw, an unparallelled poignant moment out of so much in here that's memorable for one reason or another. Personally that one astounding line is worth the waiting for. The whole epic doesn't seem too long to me (and Bir Ju's story in full could've added hours to it), but beauty is in the eyes – and ears – of the beholder; a wonderful tale, keep right on to the end of the road.