Mother India

Awards

• No award information available.

Trivia

Album

• This film was director Mehboob Khan's remake of a film he himself had directed earlier - "Aurat" (1940). "Aurat" (1940) itself was inspired by American author Pearl S. Buck's novels "The Good Earth" (1931) and "The Mother" (1934). Both Mehboob Khan films featured actor Kanhaiyalal playing the same role, Sukhi Lala, had dialogues written by Wajahat Mirza and were shot by cinematographer Faridoon Irani.[1]
• The title of this film was taken from a 1927 book written by American writer Katherine Mayo. The film sought to counter the bleak picture the book painted of India, its culture, and its people. However, when the government of India found out about the film's title, they feared that it would further the narrative of Mayo's book and asked the filmmakers to turn in the script for review. The filmmakers sent the authorities the film's script along with a letter with the following reassurance - "There has been considerable confusion and misunderstanding in regard to our film production Mother India and Mayo's book. Not only are the two incompatible but totally different and indeed opposite... We have intentionally called our film Mother India, as a challenge to this book, in an attempt to evict from the minds of the people the scurrilous work that is Miss Mayo's book.".[MR63]
• Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar worked together in only one other film after this - "Phool" (1993).[2]
• This was the first Indian film soundtrack for which 33 1/3 rpm vinyl LP records were issued. The LP records featured all twelve songs of the film, six on each side. 78 rpm shellac records with one song on each side were the norm at the time.[MR1]
• This was the most expensive Indian film of its time. It is also among the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.
• Nargis was involved in a freak fire accident on the sets of this film. Actor Sunil Dutt rescued her from the fire and suffered burn injuries in the process. An indebted Nargis visited Sunil Dutt regularly after the accident and nursed him back to recovery. The two actors drew closer during this period and eventually got married in 1958. Interestingly, Nargis, who was five years older than Sunil Dutt, played his mother in the film.[3]
• Filmmaker Mehboob Khan followed up this film with its spiritual successor "Son Of India" (1962). Khan cast his adopted son Sajid, who debuted in this film, in the titular role in "Son Of India" (1962).[4]
• The film "Kala Bazar" (1960) featured a sequence that used live footage of film personalities arriving at the premiere of this film. The sequence depicted Dev Anand's character selling tickets to the event in black as the who's who of the Hindi film industry walked into the theatre. The scene featured Nimmi, Nadira, Shammi, Guru Dutt, Geeta Dutt, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Ruma Guha, Kumkum, Sohrab Modi, Mohammed Rafi, Mukri, Fearless Nadia, Baby Naaz, Rajendra Kumar, Nawab Khan, Mehboob Khan, Yakub, Raaj Kumar, Naseem Banu, Dilip Kumar, and Nargis, among others.[5]
• The opening credits of "Adalat" (1958) billed Nargis as the "Best Actress Award Winner at Karlovy Vary". This was a reference to the award she won for this film at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.[6]
• This was the first Indian film to be nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category. "Salaam Bombay" (1988) and "Lagaan" (2001) have also been for this award.[7][8]

Song

• Dukh Bhare Din Beete Re Bhaiya - This was the only Hindi film song featuring the singers Shamshad Begum, Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi and Manna Dey together.
• Dukh Bhare Din Beete Re Bhaiya - There were a few lip-syncing issues in the filming of this song. In the song's first antara, Nargis lip-synced for both Asha Bhosle and Shamshad Begum's lines, and Raaj Kumar lip-synced for Mohammed Rafi and Manna Dey. The same issue occurred in the song's second antara with Kum Kum and Rajendra Kumar.
• Dukh Bhare Din Beete Re Bhaiya - The tune of this song may have been inspired by the Assamese folk song "Ghan Boroxun Pisol Maati" composed by Jogesh Bharali.[9]
• Holi Aayi Re Kanhai - This song was preceded by a dance sequence featuring Kum Kum and the acclaimed Kathak dancer Sitara Devi. This was among the last Hindi films featuring Sitara Devi.

1. ^ Aurat (1940)
2. ^ Phool (1993)
3. ^ Nargis and Sunil Dutt’s love story is nothing less than a fairytale romance
4. ^ Son Of India (1962)
5. ^ Kala Bazar (1960)
6. ^ Adalat (1958)
7. ^ Salaam Bombay (1988)
8. ^ Lagaan (2001)
9. ^ Ghan Boroxun Pisol Maati