BackTen Bollywood films centered on the mother
From Mother India to We Are Family, here's a list of 10 films centred on Bollywood's favourite emotional hook
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New Delhi: Swara Bhaskar-starrer Nil Battey Sannata that managed box office collections of ₹ 85 lakh within two days of release tells the story of an underprivileged but feisty woman who dreams big for her teenage daughter. Here are 10 other films that are centred on Bollywood’s favourite emotional hook, the mother.
Mother India, 1957: The mother of all epics, Mehboob Khan’s rural drama was the story of a single mother often regarded by cinema scholars as the ideal Indian woman. Starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt and Raaj Kumar, the film became India’s first submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958 and grossed about ₹ 6 crore at the box office. Adjusted for inflation, it still ranks as one of the greatest Indian hits of all time.
Mamta, 1966: Veteran actor Suchitra Sen played both mother and daughter in director Asit Sen’s drama about a fallen woman who gives up her child to shield her from her past. It made more than a crore in box office collections.
Deewar, 1975: Yash Chopra’s crime drama may have established Amitabh Bachchan as the angry, young man of the time but it rests, quite firmly, on the bond the sons (Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor) share with their self-sacrificing mother played by Nirupa Roy. The film netted ₹ 6 crore at the box office.
Bhavna, 1984: Shabana Azmi’s feminist avatar of the 1980s is strongly manifest in director Pravin Bhatt’s film on the struggle of a single mother to bring her child up with dignity. The film made ₹ 1 crore at the box office.
Beta, 1992: Director Indra Kumar’s was a massy tale of a scheming stepmother played by Aruna Irani and her unsuspecting son (Anil Kapoor) with Madhuri Dixit in a pivotal role as the daughter-in-law. It set the cash registers ringing with collections of ₹ 10 crore.
Karan Arjun, 1995: The rebirth saga starring Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan hinged unapologetically on a mother’s (Raakhee) wait for her dead sons. Directed by Rakesh Roshan, it made ₹ 32 crore at the box office.
Kya Kehna, 2000: Director Kundan Shah’s film on unwed motherhood was fairly path-breaking for its time. Starring Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan and Chandrachur Singh, it earned ₹ 8 crore at the box office.
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, 2001: Karan Johar’s NRI-friendly family drama, though a multi-starrer, was majorly focused on the mother-son relationship with Jaya Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan playing the respective roles. It made more than ₹ 29 crore at the box office.
Paa, 2009: Ironically, for a film with that title, Paa was explicit in its portrayal of the strong, self-reliant single mother. Vidya Balan played the lead role along with Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan. The R. Balki film made ₹ 30 crore at the box office.
We Are Family, 2010: The official remake of Julia Roberts-starrer Stepmom was directed by Siddharth Malhotra and featured Kajol, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Arjun Rampal in lead roles. It made ₹ 24 crore at the box office.
All figures have been sourced from movie websites Bollywood Hungama and IBOS Network.
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