Mother India-- Raj Raina

Mother India Response

            In the film Mother India, Mehboob Khan artfully depicts rural India as it was in the years following the independence and subsequent partition. I argue that by casting Radha as the main character, Khan sends a very strong and direct message that acts as a central idea of the film: one of women empowerment and a call to break from traditional gender norms. Indeed, this is evidenced by the transformation that Radha undergoes through the duration of the movie, going from a meek subservient housewife to a woman who is forced to fend for herself and her kids and eventually re-establishes a once dead city.

 Throughout the movie, there are several thematic elements that contribute to this message of the film, as well as to the overall narration of the film as a whole. In my analysis, I will examine in detail one specific element and assess how it adds value to the message of the film: the religious allusions that are omnipresent in the film. Moreover, I will consider the historical context of the film and discuss how such context further solidify Khan’s message.

From the very beginning of the film, the religious metaphors and symbolism are ubiquitous. Indeed, the cover of the film itself shows Radha, the protagonist, carrying a plow in a manner that makes her look crucified—as if, like Jesus, she is toiling away on the field as the “mother of the village” to repent for the sins of the village (specifically, of her mother-in-law). Somewhat counter intuitively, then, it is interesting that Birju is actually the one who dies, and dies at the hands of Radha no less! When watching this, it reminded me of a particular Bible verse (Isaih 59:3) “For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters wickedness.” Indeed, as Radha’s bloodstained “hands” and “fingers” clutch Birju’s dead body, we are reminded of all the “falsehoods” and “wickedness” that the hotheaded Birju engaged in before his death. Furthermore, this religious parallel finalizes Radha’s rise from a meek housewife to a strong, independent figurehead, capable of taking her own son’s life for what she deems to be best for the city.

The religious symbolism extends past simply references to Christianity and Jesus Christ. Most of the characters in the movie are named after Hindu Gods; moreover, each character takes on several qualities that relate to their respective God names. Shamu, for example, is another name for Krishna; just as in Hindu mythology, Krishna is married to Radha, so too is Shamu married to Radha in Mother India. And just as Krishna left Radha and had several other mistresses in his lifetime, so too did Shamu leave Radha (though it is unclear what happened afterwards). Similarly, Ramu, Radha’s son, can represent Lord Ram. Much like Ram, Ramu is even-tempered and obedient, following the advice of his mother (as Ram follows the demands of Kaikayi and Dasharatha that ban him to the forest). Birju, another name for Krishna, takes on the more mischievous qualities of Krishna: the hot-headedness, the impulsiveness, and (especially as a kid) the lovableness that Krishna had.

Perhaps the most complex character likened to a goddess is Radha. Though overtly, Radha is named after Krishna’s lover, Radha in the movie contains many more dimensions than simply acting as an object of Krishna/Shamu’s desires. Her high moral value makes her akin to Sita/Saraswati; her striking beauty resembles that of Lakshmi (to which she is even likened to by Sukhilala); her self-sacrifice likens her to Draupadi; and her ultimately killing Birju tells that she has shades of Kali in her. Though her name, ostensibly, signals that she is the wife of Krishna and nothing else, Radha’s character in the movie is much more complex as she takes on the personalities of several other Goddesses.

This film was released in 1957 in response to a novel of the same title, which argued that India should not be granted autonomy due in large part to its poor treatment of women. Khan created this film as a rebuttal to that argument; by casting Radha as a strong, independent woman who acts as the central character for the movie and likening her to a Goddess, Khan successfully argues that a woman can be just as empowered as her male counterpart—and sometimes, as in the case of Radha acting as the focal point of the village, even more so. In Modern South Asia, it is mentioned several times how “Indian Muslims were a nation entitled to equal treatment with the Hindu nation in the distribution of power and patronage.” Khan, then, takes this argument one step further by preaching for the equality and autonomy of women in a patriarchy that defined women only through the lens of their male counterparts.