Why you can trust 12DOVE Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.
Originally released in 1957, Mehboob Khan's Technicolour splurge is actually a remake of the director's 1940 black-and-white effort, Aurat. Nonetheless, Mother India is quintessential popular Hindi cinema.
Radha (Nargis) is a beautiful young bride who's deserted by her farmer husband (Raaj Kumar) after he's maimed in an accident. Left to plough the barren fields herself, she's confronted by floods, food shortages and the advances of a lecherous moneylender. As if that's not enough, Radha is also charged with the responsibility of bringing up her two sons, Birju (Sunil Dutt) and Ramu (Rajendra Kumar), so it's a testimony to her resilience that she emerges as a respected figure in her village.
Interspersed with songs and some dynamic action set-pieces, Mother India's overblown narrative is awash with heroic suffering. But even now, four decades on, it's Nargis' wilful performance that still dominates, her character's indomitable matriarchal endurance a metaphor for the hardiness of the modern Indian nation.
The long-awaited next entry in the cult classic horror RPG series Pathologic is getting a free "prelude" game, and after 19 years we'll finally see the mysterious Capital
Amazing Spider-Man is relaunching with a new #1 in 2025 with a focus on classic villains
Geralt of Rivia goes head to head with a Witcher from another school in a new comic from X-Men and Flash writer Si Spurrier
