Happy Mother's Day: Famous Mothers in Bollywood

As most of the world celebrates Mother's Day tomorrow, it is perhaps opportune that I pen down some of my favourite mothers from Bollywood :) When I think of Bollywood mothers, I think of 'aloo ke paranthe' & 'gajar ka halwa'. And the most famous line ever to have been uttered mentioning a mother - 'Mere paas maa hain'.

Reema Lagoo:
Reema Lagoo for our generation is probably what Nirupa Roy was for the previous generation :) I mean, she has been playing mother since forever; she probably played mother for the first time to Juhi Chawla in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and has never looked back since then. From Aashiqui to Vaastav and from Hum Saath Saath Hain to Kal Ho Naa Ho. She has played Salman Khan's mother the maximum number of times. The only thing probably remaining for her now is to play Aamir Khan's mother as well :) My favourite role of hers is in Maine Pyaar Kiya & Hum Aapke Hain Kaun.

Farida Jalal:
Farida Jalal is to Shah Rukh Khan what Reema Lagoo is to Salman Khan; it's as if she has to play a mother in SRK's movies be it Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil Toh Pagal Hain or Kuch Kuch Hota Hain (in which she played SRK's mother while Reema played Kajol's who is engaged to Salman - gotta love Bollywood :)) My favourite role of hers is, of course, in KKHH where she laments that since she doesn't have a daughter-in-law, she cannot exchange gossip with her other friends and accompanies her grand-daughter on a summer camp to ensure her son gets married a second time.

Jaya Bachchan:
True, Jaya Bachchan has not played a mother in as many movies as the first two but I especially enjoyed her role in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham where she played mother to SRK & Hrithik. She also played mother to Preity Zinta in Kal Ho Naa Ho (in which Reema played SRK's mother - told you Reema is the omnipotent mother :))

Dina Pathak, Ratna Pathak Shah & Supriya Pathak:

This mother-daughters trio may not have played mothers in many movies but they appear in my list solely based on that one movie which has struck a chord with me:

Dina - Golmaal (1979) - As Mrs. Srivastava who played Amol Palekar's fake mother & her twin sister as well, she was hilarious in the movie. The way she matched Utpal Dutt's acting prowess in the movie is worth appreciating. Her contribution to Golmaal's popularity cannot be under-estimated.

Ratna - Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (2008) - As the mother who wanted to protect her only son from his fate as determined by her in-laws' family, Ratna Pathak Shah really stood out in this movie. She was as mad as the role demanded her to be and friendly with her son at the same time.

Supriya - Wake Up Sid (2009) - As the mother of a spoiled brat who didn't respect his parents or want to spend any time with them, I felt Supriya Pathak did a fabulous role. She wanted to learn English so that she could be friends with her only son & was willing to let her son remain with a strange woman so that he could remain happy.

Happy Mother's Day: Famous Mothers In Literature

As most of the world celebrates Mother's Day tomorrow (second Sunday in May), I thought it worthwhile to pen down some of the famous mothers from my favourite novels  :)

Mrs. Bennet - Pride & Prejudice (1813)
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen remains one of my favourite novels till date. And, I would like to believe that, in addition to Elizabeth & Mr. Darcy, Mrs. Bennet (Elizabeth's mother) is partially responsible for the popularity. She is like any other mother, more specifically, Indian mother, whose sole aim in life is to get her daughters married off to wealthy men. She does not like the jokes/witty comments her husband Mr. Bennet makes especially when it comes to pairing off her daughters with suitable men.

Mrs. Rupa Mehra - A Suitable Boy (1993)
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth remains one of the longest novels ever published at ~ 1,400 pages. Mrs. Rupa Mehra is portrayed to be a typical Indian mother interested in marrying off her youngest daughter to 'a suitable boy'. Mrs. Mehra is often nagging & resorts to emotional blackmail throughout the novel to get people to do what she wants them to. At heart, however, she only wants the best for everybody.

In that respect, both Mrs. Bennet & Mrs. Mehra seem to be similar - both wanting the best for their children and nagging them towards it. I wonder sometimes if Vikram Seth modeled the latter on the former but in an Indian context :)

Mrs. Margaret March - Little Women (1868)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott remains another of my favourite novels. And the mother Mrs. March is an epitome of goodness - always wanting to help out others in need, sometimes at the cost of her own family; trusting her daughters' sense over that which society demands; being a good moral example to all those at home.

Which are your favourite mothers in literature? Leave a comment and let me know.

I would like to end with this quote by Erma Bombeck (which is so apt and so very true): When your mother asks, 'Do you want a piece of advice?' it's a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.

Review: Kya Dilli Kya Lahore

Let me admit at the outset. This is not a movie I would have normally watched. Surfing the channels the other day I came across the trailer of the movie. As the name suggests, I instantly knew it would be a movie on the India-Pakistan partition. But what really got my attention was when the trailer said 'Gulzar presents'. Surely, I thought to myself, this must be a different kind of movie for Gulzar to have been associated with it.

Well, I am glad I didn't skip the movie. Sure, it is a movie about the India-Pakistan partition but narrated in a very different & hard-hitting way. The movie has only four characters and is centred, almost entirely, around only two - Vijay Raaz (Rehmat Ali - a Pakistani soldier of Indian origin) and Manu Rishi (Samarth Pratap Shastri - an Indian soldier of Pakistani origin). The movie looks at the Partition from the eyes of these two soldiers - people who have reluctantly shifted their nations but are not entirely happy about it; people who reminisce about their time back home even in front of an enemy soldier; people who question the very idea of Partition.

Their conversations with each other reveal some interesting facets: Essentially, politicians take decisions and the soldiers need to execute these on the ground. The politicians take these decisions based on their hunger for power ('Siyasat ka khel hain saara'). Most times, as in the case of Partition, it may not be a right or humane decision. It seems as if in the greed for power, people forget that there are human beings posted at the borders. The human cost is sadly sacrificed at the altar of politics.

The film is quite topical considering even after 67 years, we are still not able to reconcile with Pakistan and our soldiers die almost daily on the borders. Such loss of life in times of peace is quite cruel. It's easy to empathize with both the soldiers in the movie when they exchange notes on their family and their childhood. Vijay Raaz grows almost misty-eyed describing his home in Chandni Chowk; Manu Rishi becomes nostalgic talking about his Lahore residence.

To say that Vijay Raaz & Manu Rishi have acted brilliantly would be doing injustice to both of them - because they are known to be such wonderful actors. Also, this is Vijay Raaz's directorial debut. Both carry off the film quite well with equal parts light-heartedness & seriousness.

It is a slow film yes and may appear a little bit long to some. But it is well worth it. When we spend hours each weekend on watching mindless movies, surely we can spend ~ 100 minutes to watch this movie. The movie will make you think about the uselessness of war & conflict; it will make you realize the insanity of asking people to change their nations overnight leaving almost everything behind; it will bring home the point that even lonely enemy soldiers need a friendly soul to talk to at the borders.

Go watch the movie. And come back home and say a silent prayer for the thousands of soldiers bravely guarding our borders. They lie awake so that we may sleep peacefully. In some small way, I believe this movie is a dedication to all of them.