When someone says a movie is iconic what does it really mean? If you start with the word icon itself, icon originated in the Christian era to depict a holy picture of Christ or any revered figure. Soon the word icon spread to representing anything worth of veneration or respect. Today we live in a world where 100s of icons are accessible in a small screen at the touch of a button. So in the digital world, icon is nothing but a function a program that signifies what it does - make it more functional than emotional.
But iconic movies are to me about icons. And there is no greater icon in building Indians than the mothers of India. While Mother India is about one phenomenal woman played by Nargis Dutt and in that one titular sweep , the movie makes it her story and the spirit behind our nation building ethos (which was very much alive in the 50s to move to a post feudal era after independence) and also all the mothers of India. Also by calling the protagonist Radha , it gives it the divinity - the above all iconification and makes it so rooted in Indianness ( go suit yourself secular pricks), that this movie is really the 'mother' of all iconic movies. What Mehboob Khan pulled off is historic. Its a metaphorical rhapsody of Indian values that stayed deep rooted for many years to come . The film making style became a template that has been used in so many movies after that, especially if you add the 2 sons with morally different aspirations.
The centrality of the mother , was evident even in the 70s - in Deewar with the ' mere pass maa hai' dialogue and as late as 2001 in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum , where the modern king of the melodrama Karan Johar added ' Zindagi mein agar kuch banna ho, kuch haasil karna ho, kuch jeetna ho ... toh hamesha dil ki suno ... aur agar dil bhi koi jawab na de toh aankhen band karke apni maa aur papa ka naam lo ... phir dekhna har manzil paar kar jaoge, har mushkil aasaan ho jayegi ... jeet tumhari hogi, sirf tumhari"
The template that this movie set is what mothers of India epitomize. That self sacrificing spirit - even if I go hungry my kids will not hungry in the 50s to even if I have to wake up at 5 am and go to office, I will give 3 dabbas to my kid since he has an extracurricular exam today in the 80s. The protect your respect and values at all costs even if money and anyone else tempts it. That constant reminder they will set for you to come back to the compass that they believe is what will land you in good stead. The movie is also extremely melodramatic at a very stylized level , and this is also part of the Indian mothers arsenal that they use to prodigious impact when needed.
Nargis made this movie immortal and although there are many scenes in the movie , but nothing more iconic , than a mother making herself the yoke, feeding the kids and yet teaching the value of hard work. Unlike America we didnt have the dream in the 50s, we just had our bare hands, our Gods and an indomitable spirit.
But iconic movies are to me about icons. And there is no greater icon in building Indians than the mothers of India. While Mother India is about one phenomenal woman played by Nargis Dutt and in that one titular sweep , the movie makes it her story and the spirit behind our nation building ethos (which was very much alive in the 50s to move to a post feudal era after independence) and also all the mothers of India. Also by calling the protagonist Radha , it gives it the divinity - the above all iconification and makes it so rooted in Indianness ( go suit yourself secular pricks), that this movie is really the 'mother' of all iconic movies. What Mehboob Khan pulled off is historic. Its a metaphorical rhapsody of Indian values that stayed deep rooted for many years to come . The film making style became a template that has been used in so many movies after that, especially if you add the 2 sons with morally different aspirations.
The centrality of the mother , was evident even in the 70s - in Deewar with the ' mere pass maa hai' dialogue and as late as 2001 in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum , where the modern king of the melodrama Karan Johar added ' Zindagi mein agar kuch banna ho, kuch haasil karna ho, kuch jeetna ho ... toh hamesha dil ki suno ... aur agar dil bhi koi jawab na de toh aankhen band karke apni maa aur papa ka naam lo ... phir dekhna har manzil paar kar jaoge, har mushkil aasaan ho jayegi ... jeet tumhari hogi, sirf tumhari"
The template that this movie set is what mothers of India epitomize. That self sacrificing spirit - even if I go hungry my kids will not hungry in the 50s to even if I have to wake up at 5 am and go to office, I will give 3 dabbas to my kid since he has an extracurricular exam today in the 80s. The protect your respect and values at all costs even if money and anyone else tempts it. That constant reminder they will set for you to come back to the compass that they believe is what will land you in good stead. The movie is also extremely melodramatic at a very stylized level , and this is also part of the Indian mothers arsenal that they use to prodigious impact when needed.
Nargis made this movie immortal and although there are many scenes in the movie , but nothing more iconic , than a mother making herself the yoke, feeding the kids and yet teaching the value of hard work. Unlike America we didnt have the dream in the 50s, we just had our bare hands, our Gods and an indomitable spirit.
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