As we celebrate this day, let's have a look at the mothers on-screen who helped us connect this beautiful relation with mothers in real life too.
This mother’s day, let's have a look at the portrayal of mothers in the Hindi film industry. Cinema is a medium to escape into a world, which differs from ours but not necessarily idealistic. However, certain roles in Bollywood over the years have stayed stagnant and transformed slowly to give us a more realistic and relatable experience.
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One such role is that of mothers. The transformation was not segued, but it has given the character of a mother more depth and has become more nuanced. If we talk about one exception, which was ahead of its time, it would be Mehboob Khan's, 'Mother India', which we will talk about in detail.
Today, as we celebrate this special day, let's have a look at the mothers on-screen who helped us connect and celebrate this beautiful relation with mothers in real life too.
Nargis
This movie will remain to be eternally great, not just for the kind of mother it had typecast, but for director Mehboob Khan’s vision that shaped the character of ‘Radha’ played by Nargis. Radha, unlike her equivalent in other movies of Bollywood, that had come after this, is ready to take charge after her husband’s demise and works in the field to put food on the plate for her children. But this mother’s love and sacrifice are not stereotypical. When her son ‘Birju’ grows up to be a notorious man who kills a girl from the village out of vengeance, Radha, then kills her son, for the simple fact that a mother is ought to be a universal mother and carry the feeling regardless of blood relation or not. The exemplary role played by Nargis remains unmatched to date.
Reema Lagoo
It would come as a surprise for many if told that this late actor has played the role of a mother so practically, that she was only 31 when she played Salman Khan’s mother in his debut movie, ‘Maine Pyaar Kiya’ and was only eight years older to Salman. In Rishi Kapoor’s, ‘Shreeman Aashiq’, the actress was 5 years younger than Rishi Kapoor played the role of his mother. So, we can say without a doubt that it was her talent and values, which let her understand the character of a mother so well. Her role as a mother has fleshed out ranging from being a mother with whom her children could share things, gossip but she had no upper hand in family decisions (Maine Pyaar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun) to being a single mother who boldly faces his terminally ill son at the hospital bed. She had imbibed her character's complexity well.
Kirron Kher
The demeanour of an affable mother in a changing social setting, her role as, ‘Mrs. Acharya’ in Tarun Mansukhani’s ‘Dostana’, she had her own inhibitions and fear of accepting a gay son and the paranoia of, ‘Maa da Ladla Bigad Gaya’, to being her daughter’s love Guru who is ever ready to meddle with her daughter’s love life in, ‘Khoobsurat’, Kiran has essayed her role as a mother in a wide spectrum. She has tapped into being an over-protective, melodramatic mother in ‘Om Shaanti Om' who has emotions flowing from left and right for her son’s well-being, to step aside from her children’s lives from time to time in ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’, to let them make their own decisions. Her real-life jovial personality with a hint of sarcasm has let her absorb all these emotions so fittingly.