Episode 74: Mother India (1957)

If you see one Bollywood film in your life, it should probably be Mahboob Khan's Mother India (1957) a harrowing tale of the struggles of an Indian woman from her marriage to a doomed fieldworker to her disappointment in her two grown sons. One critic called the film India's answer to Gone with the Wind (1939), and this pretty much hits the mark.  Mother India is exemplary of Mahboob Khan's work, featuring a female protagonist who defeats the odds (both financial and familial) to make it to the top.  A Technicolor masterpiece, the film unfortunately is rarely seen today except by classic Bollywood fans. Have a comment or question for the host?  Email Sean at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter via @1001MoviesPC.