65 Years of Evergreen Mother India : Arguably, The Biggest Hit & Most Revered Film of Indian Cinema

Legendary filmmaker Mehboob Khan has made many films that became huge hits at the box office and got critical acclaim, but one film will always remain the greatest of all time - Mother India. The film completes 65 years of its release today, and even after so many years, it still continues to remain one of the greatest films of all time.Many modern critics and audiences don't know this, but Mehmood Khan made a film called Aurat in 1940. It was the story of an indomitable woman, played by Sardar Akhtar. In today's time, we can see remakes are being hated and there was Mother India, which became a record-breaking hit as well as India's most revered film. Mehboob Khan's Aurat was set in the pre-independence era, hence it was quite a disturbing film for its time. Mother India came a decade after independence, when the audience had become ready for such films and the box office scope was extended too.Mother India was released during the Diwali festivities, and till date, it remains the only Diwali release to become the highest grossing film of all time in Bollywood. Mother India was slated for an Independence Day 1957 release to celebrate the 10th anniversary of India's independence, but the makers pushed the film for 2 months. The film premiered at the Liberty cinema in Mumbai on 25th October 1957 on the auspicious occasion of Diwali and ran continuously for over a year.The special screening of Mother India was attended by President Rajendra Prasad, government ministers, and other officials in Rashtrapati Bhavan on 23rd October 1957. There is reliable data available on the box office earnings of Mother India, but the most known figures say 4 crore nett and 8 crore gross at the Indian box office. It became the highest grossing Bollywood film of all time by surpassing B. R. Chopra's Naya Daur (1957), which collected 2.25 crore nett and 5.40 crore gross at the box office.The numbers of Mother India, i.e. 4 crore nett, don't look huge now, but for adjusted inflation, it might be the biggest hit of Indian cinema. Many people in the trade have always believed that Sholay is the biggest hit of all time, but here is a small argument that might prove it wrong. The average ticket price (ATP) for Sholay was Rs. 2 to Rs. 2.50, making it approximately 15 crore footfalls. The pictures of tickets are now easily available on the Internet from that time, but for Mother India it wasn't possible. However, I did find one ticket that shows an ATP of 2 NP (Naya Paisa). 1 Rupees = 100 Naya Paisa, so numerically the film sold 50 tickets in 1 Rupees. That means the film sold approximately 40 crore tickets for an 8 crore gross figure, which is the highest number of footfalls for any Bollywood film till date. These are just simple calculations. It's entirely up to you what to believe because the exact box office tracing of that time is not possible in today's time.Mother India was the 4th record-breaking hit by Mehboob Khan after Anmol Ghadi (1946), Andaz (1949) and Aan (1952), which is the highest for any Bollywood director till date. He overtook Raj Kapoor's record of 3 all-time grossers - Barsaat (1949), Awaara (1951) and Shree 420 (1955). This record has not just remained unbeaten, but nobody has even come close to it in the last 7 decades.When it comes to critical acclaim, there may not be a film list that does not include Mother India. It remains one of the most acclaimed films of all time. Mother India was the first Indian film to be chosen for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was selected as one of the five nominations for the category. It was India's best chance to win the Oscars, but lost to Federico Fellini's Le Notti Di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria by a single vote (rightfully so, in my opinion).Mother India won two awards at the 5th National Film Awards in 1957: an All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film and a Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The film also won 5 Filmfare awards for Best Film, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound Design. The lead actress, Nargis, also won the Best Actress award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and became the first Indian actress to do so.The performance of Nargis (as Radha) is hailed as one of the greatest performances by a female actor in Indian cinema. Mother India is the only female-led Bollywood movie to become a record-breaking blockbuster to date. Raj Kumar's role was also loved by the audience. The virtuous son of Radha, Ramu, was played by Rajendra Kumar, and his kindness made the character look real. The junior Birju, played by Master Sajid, is unforgettable, while the adult version was made memorable by Sunil Dutt (who later married his on-screen mother, Nargis). Who can ever forget Sukhilala, aka Kanhaiya Lal?The music for Mother India was composed by the legendary music director Naushad. Shakeel Badayuni penned all the 12 songs in the film that have been sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Shamshad Begum and Manna Dey. Several songs from the film became hits, but Me Hum Aaye Hai and Bhare Din Beete have become evergreen inspirational compositions. Not just the songs, but their lyrics keep inspiring us in tough times, even today. Taking it further, the film is a whole new level of encouragement and filmmaking that still holds its own landmark even after so many years.