Mother India

One of the most highly-acclaimed Indian films, but I’m afraid this is a case where I’m going to have to go against the grain.  The nearly 3-hour story concerns Radha (played by the single-named Nargis, also of Awaara), a young woman who marries into a family beholden to the village’s cruel moneylender Sukhil (another single-named actor, Kanhaiyalal).  For the first half of the film, Radha is tormented by one awful scenario after another, in ridiculously over-the-top melodrama rivaling that of Matarazzo.  Then there’s a time jump, and the plot focuses on Radha’s coping with her two surviving sons: Ramu — the good one — and Birju, whose vengeful rage has turned him into the town asshole.  This section is slightly less melodramatic, but not much less heavy-handed.  There’s also a lot of terrible comedy sprinkled throughout.  There aren’t many good performances to speak of.  Nargis seems to get a lot of praise, but to me it was way too much wailing and screaming and collapsing from sorrow.  Sunil Dutt as the older Birju is pretty annoying, but the real atrocity in the casting is little Birju.  Unbearably obnoxious, I just wanted to stuff this awful brat into a wood chipper, Fargo-style.

However, the film does sport absolutely stunning cinematography.  Sometimes the editing is sloppy, but the visuals are often breathtaking.  Khan goes for iconic framing and striking use of color, in a way it’s much like Paradjanov (and purely coincidence, of course, but Raaj Kuman bears a strong resemblance to Ivan Mykolajchuk from Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors).  Bold palettes and some amazing sequences, including a swing scene that may well have influenced Satyajit Ray’s work in Charulata and Teen Kanya.  And the songs are generally quite nice, although unfortunately not subtitled on the copy I watched.  If I was judging the movie solely on aesthetic value, it would score quite high.

But sadly, I just didn’t really get anything out of the story, characters or themes.  I’ve done a little reading up and apparently there’s a lot of historical and religious significance.  I have to say that the interpretations I’ve read seem like reaching, but probably these people know more about it than I do.  To me the major theme was “Don’t borrow money from massive dickheads.”  Yes, there is some commentary on the woman’s role in contemporary Indian society and exploitation of the common people, but none of it felt very sophisticated to me.  It was worth seeing for the gorgeous photography, otherwise I was not very thrilled with it.  Rating: Poor

IMDb