Mother India
Mother India is a 1957 Indian epic drama film, directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, and Raaj Kumar. A remake of Khans earlier film Aurat 1940, it is the story of a povertystricken village woman named Radha Nargis who, in the absence of her husband, struggles to raise her sons and survive against a cunning moneylender amidst many troubles. Despite her hardship, she sets a goddesslike moral example of an ideal Indian woman.
The film is set in 1957, the present day at the time of shooting. When construction of an irrigation canal to the village is completed, Radha Nargis, considered to be the mother of the village, is asked to inaugurate the canal. She remembers her past, when she was newly married.The wedding between Radha and Shamu Raaj Kumar is paid for by Radhas motherinlaw, who borrows the money from the moneylender Sukhilala. This event starts the spiral of poverty and hardship that 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 valued at about US105 in 1957. a b While Shamu works to bring more of their rocky land into use, his arms are crushed by a boulder. Ashamed of his helplessness being without arms and humiliated by Sukhilala for living on the earnings of his wife a woman Shamu decides that he is of no use to his family and permanently leaves Radha and their three sons, walking to his own probable death by starvation. Soon after, Radhas motherinlaw dies along with her third son. A severe storm and the resulting flood destroys houses in the village and ruins the harvest. Sukhilala offers to save Radha and her sons if she trades her body to him for food. Radha vehemently refused his offer, but had to also lose her infant her fourth son to the atrocities of the storm. Although the villagers begin initially to evacuate the village, they decide to stay and rebuild it, persuaded by Radha. ........
Source: Wikipedia
