Must Read! Mother’s Day special: A look at the evolution of mothers in Hindi cinema

MUMBAI:  There was a time in Hindi cinema when mother’s did not have much to do in movies. They were mostly shown as widows and of course remember they had this patent dialogue, ‘Beta tu aagaya, tujhe nuakri mil gayi’. However, things have changed a lot when it comes to how filmmakers have been showcasing mothers in movies.

Today, it’s Mother’s Day, so let’s look at the evolution of mothers in Hindi cinema...

In black and white movies, we used to mostly get to see the budhi maa who is ill all the time, poor, and used to sob a lot. Moving further, in a few movies like Mughal-E-Azam, Mother India, and others things changed a bit and actresses playing the role of mothers got meaty roles, and of course, a movie like Mother India was rarely made in those times.

Also Read: Beyond the Roles: On-screen Saas-Bahu jodi Kajal Chauhan and Sushmita Mukherjee's shares mother-daughter kind bond offscreen.

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Then came a time when in movies mothers used to lose their kids in mela or some way and then meet them when they became adults. Nirupa Roy was quite famous for doing that and she was seen as a mother in many movies. Also, how can we forget the famous dialogue of Shashi Kapoor, “Mere paas maa hai”?

In the 90s, things changed a bit more when it comes to the portrayal of mothers in the movies. They were no longer the abla naari and didn’t wear the white sarees. From the villainous Aruna Irani in Beta to the strong yet family values-oriented Farida Jalal in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge to the revengeful mother Rakhee in Karan Arjun, in the 90s we surely got to see some good characters of mothers in Hindi films.

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The early 2000s was a mixed bag of the typical crying mothers to strong mothers on the big screens. While we had the emotional Jaya Bachchan in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, we also had Kiron Kher fighting for her daughter’s love and pride in Devdas.

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The characters of mothers have changed in cinema a lot. If we look at the movies made in the past few years, and the movies that were recently released, we have the characters of mothers written very well. From Shefali Shah in Darlings to Rani Mukerji in Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway, the characters of mothers are no more just supporting roles, but they are the protagonists of a film.

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So yes, that’s how Hindi cinema has evolved when it comes to the characters of mothers in movies, and let’s hope that it keeps on getting better day by day.

Also Read: Exciting! Five movies that you should watch with your mom during this Mother’s Day weekend

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