The document provides summaries of several acclaimed Indian films: Mother India from 1957 is described as an epic melodrama about a poverty-stricken woman raising her sons. Pyaasa from 1957 tells the story of a struggling poet helped by a prostitute. Mayabazar from 1957 is a folklore film based on a story from the Mahabharata about forbidden love.

1. BEST INDIAN MOVIES

2. MOTHER INDIA
Mother Indiare is a 1957 Hindi film epic.
Produced and Directed by Mehboob Khan.

3.  Written by Mehboob Khan, Wajahat Mirza, S. Ali Raza (dialogue). Music by Naushad,
Cinematography Faredoon A. Irani, Editing by Shamsudin Kadri. Studio Mehboob
Production, Release date(s) 25 October 1957, Running time 172 minutes
PLOT
 The film, a melodrama, is a remake of Mehboob Khan's earlier film, Aurat (1940). It
is the story of a poverty-stricken village woman named Radha who, amid many other
trials and tribulations, struggles to raise her sons and survive against an evil money-
lender. Despite her hardship, she sets a goddess-like moral example of what it means to
be an Indian woman, yet kills her own criminal son at the end for the greater moral
good. She represents India as a nation in the aftermath of independence.

4. About the Film
 The film ranks among the all-time Indian box office hits and has been described as "an all-
time Indian blockbuster" and "perhaps India's most revered film".
 Mother India belongs to a small collection of films, including Kismet (1943), Mughal-e-
Azam (1960), Sholay (1975) and Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!(1994) which continue to be
watched daily throughout India and are considered to be definitive Hindi cultural film
classics.
 The film was India's first submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language
Film in 1958 and was chosen as one of the five nominations for the category.

5. PYAASA
Pyaasa (English: The Thirsty) is a 1957 Indian film.
Produced and Directed by Guru Dutt.
Written by Abrar Alvi

6. PLOT
 The film tells the story of struggling poet, Vijay (Guru Dutt), trying to make his works
known in post-independence India and a prostitute with a heart of gold, eventually helps
him get his poems published. The music was composed by S.D. Burman.
HIS WORKS
With the commercial success of thrillers like Baazi, Jaal, Aar Paar and C.I.D. as well as
comedies like Mr. & Mrs. '55, Guru Dutt and his studio were financially secure and
established.
 From 1957, he could now make movies he really wanted to make, including Pyaasa.

7. HIS WORKS
 In 2002, Pyaasa was ranked at #160 on the Sight & Sound critics' and directors'
poll of all-time greatest films.
 In 2005, Pyaasa was rated as one of the 100 best films of all time by Time
Magazine, which called it "the soulfully romantic of the lot."
 Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.
 On the occasion of Valentines Day 2011 Time magazine has declared it as one of the
top 10 romantic movies of all time.

8. ALAM ARA
Alam Ara (English: The Light of the World) is a first Indian sound film in 1931 film
Directed by Ardeshir Irani.
Written by Joseph David
Munshi Zaheer (Urdu)

9.  Irani recognized the importance that sound would have on the cinema, and raced to
complete Alam Ara before several other contemporary sound films.
 Alam Ara debuted at the Majestic Cinema in Mumbai (then Bombay) on March 14,
1931.
 The first Indian talkie was so popular that "police aid had to be summoned to control
the crowds.”
Newspaper advertisement for Alam Ara, 1931
AIM OF IRANI

10.  The film is a love story between a prince and a gypsy girl, based on a Parsi play. The story
centers on an imaginary, historical royal family in the kingdom of Kumarpur.
 The main characters are the king and his two warring wives Dilbahar and Navbahar. Their
rivalry escalates when a fakir predicts that Navbahar will bear the king's heir.
 Dilbahar, in revenge, attempts to have an affair with the kingdom's chief minister Adil. The
affair goes sour and a vengeful Dilbahar imprisons him and exiles his daughter, Alam Ara
(Zubeida).
 In exile, Alam Ara is brought up by Gypsies. Upon returning to the palace at Kumarpur, Alam
Ara meets and falls in love with the charming young prince (Master Vithal). In the end, Adil is
released, Dilbahar is punished and the lovers marry
PLOT

11.  In 2003, this film got the National Film Archive of India Award in Pune,
which destroyed the last surviving prints of several classics such as Raja
Harishchandra and Achhut Kanya.
 This film is no longer available in its original format.
AWARD
Alam Ara still

12. SHREE 420
Shree 420 (English : Mr. 420, also transliterated as Shri 420) is a
1955 Bollywood film
Directed, produced by and starring by Raj Kapoor.
Written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and V.P.Sathe

13. FILM CENTERS
 The film centers on Raj, a poor, but educated orphan who comes to Bombay with dreams of
success. Kapoor's character is heavily influenced by Charlie Chaplin's "little tramp", much like
Kapoor's character in his 1951 Awaara.
 The film is a collaboration between director/producer Kapoor and writer Khwaja Ahmad
Abbas, with music composed by the team of Shankar Jaikishan. The song "Mera Joota Hai
Japani" ('My shoes are Japanese'), became hugely popular and a patriotic symbol of the newly
independent India.

14. PLOT
 Shree 420 is the tale of a country boy, Raj (Raj Kapoor), from Allahabad, who travels to the big
city, Bombay, by walking, to earn a living. He falls in love with the poor but virtuous Vidya
(Nargis), but is soon seduced by the riches of a freewheeling and unethical lifestyle presented to
him by an unscrupulous and dishonest businessman, Seth Sonachand Dharmaanand (Nemo) and
the sultry temptress Maya (Nadira).
 He eventually becomes a confidence trickster, or "420," who even cheats in card gambling. Vidya
tried hard to make Raj a good man but fails.

15.  Meanwhile, Sonachand comes up with another scheme to exploit poor people, whereby he
promises permanent homes to them at just Rs.100. The scheme pays off, as people start hoarding
money for a home, even at the cost of other important things.
 Vidya's contempt for Raj increases even more. Raj becomes wealthy, but soon realizes that he paid
a very high price for it. When Raj discovers that Sonachand has no plans to fulfill his promises, he
decides to make wrongs right.
 Raj takes all the bond papers of the people's homes & tries to flee Sonachand's home, only to be
caught by Sonachand & his cronies. In a scuffle that occurs, Sonachand shoots Raj dead. When
people hear the shooting, they come & see Raj dead.

16.  Sonachand tells police that Raj was trying to flee after stealing money from his safe, hence
Sonachand shot him.
 Upon this, the "dead" Raj springs back to life & using pure logic, proves Sonachand's guilt.
Sonachand & his partner's are arrested, while Vidya happily forgives Raj.
 The film ends with Raj telling that 'yeh 420 nahi; Shree 420 hain'("These are not just con men,
they are con men in garb of respected con men").

17. Do Bigha Zamin (meaning "two acres of land") is a Hindi film in 1953
Directed by Bengali film
Director Bimal Roy and
starring Balraj Sahni and Nirupa Roy

18. • The film is known for its socialist theme, and is an important film in the early
parallel cinema of India and is rightly considered a trend setter.
• Bigha is measure of land area but is not same as acre though translating the
title as such serves the purpose.
• Inspired by Italian neo-realistic cinema, Bimal Roy made Do Bigha
Zameen after watching, Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948).

19. • Like most of movies by Bimal Roy, art and commercial cinema are merged to
create a movie that is still looked upon as a benchmark and paved way for
future cinema makers in the Indian neo-realist movement and the Indian New
Wave, which began in the 1950s.
• It was the first film to win the Filmfare Best MovieAward and the first Indian
film to win the International Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
• In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See
Bollywood Films.

20. • The story revolves around a farmer Shambu Mahato (Balraj Sahni), who lives
with his wife Parvati `Paro’ (Nirupa Roy) and son Kanhaiya (Rattan Kumar) in
a small village that has been hit badly by a famine. In the hope of earning
enough money to pay off his debts and save his land, a poor farmer becomes
a rickshaw puller in the Calcutta and faces many difficulties. The film ends as
Shambu and his family walks away from their land.

21. Pather Panchali
Pather Panchali (English: Song of the Little Road) is a
1955 Bengali drama film.
Written and Directed by Satyajit Ray
Produced by the Government of the Indian state of West Bengal.

22. About the Film
 Based on Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay's Bengali 1929 novel of the same name,
the film was the directorial debut of Ray.
 The first film of The Apu Trilogy, it depicts the childhood of the protagonist Apu in
the rural countryside of Bengal in the 1920s.
 Though the film had a shoestring budget of Rs. 1,50,000 (US$3000), featured
mostly amateur actors, and was made by an inexperienced crew, Pather
Panchali was a critical and popular success.
 Influenced by Italian neorealism, Satyajit Ray developed his own style of lyrical
realism in this film.

23. Award
 The first movie from independent India to attract major international critical
attention, Pather Panchali won "Best Human Document" at the 1956 Cannes Film
Festival, establishing Satyajit Ray as a major international filmmaker.
 Pather Panchali is today considered one of the greatest films ever made.

24. THE APU TRILOGY
Directed, Produced and Screenplay by Satyajit Ray
Starring Kanu Banerjee and Karuna Banerjee

25. ABOUT THE FILM
• The Apu Trilogy is a trilogy consisting of three Bengali films directed by Satyajit Ray: Pather
Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished) and Apur Sansar (The World of
Apu).
• The films — completed 1955-1959 — were based on two Bengali novels written by Bibhutibhushan
Bandopadhyay: Pather Panchali (1929) and Aparajito (1932).
• The original music for the trilogy was composed by Ravi Shankar.
• Produced on a shoestring budget of Rs. 1.5 lakh ($3000) using an amateur cast and crew, the trilogy
was a milestone in Indian cinema and remains one of the finest examples of Parallel Cinema.

26. AWARDS
• The three films went on to win many national and international awards, including
three National Film Awards and seven awards from the Cannes, Berlin and Venice Film
Festivals.
• They are today frequently listed among the greatest films of all time and considered one of
the greatest film trilogies ever made.

27. PLOT
• The films are a "coming of age" narrative in the vein of a bildungsroman, describing the
childhood, education and early maturity of a young Bengali named Apu Roy in the early part
of the 20th century.
• The first film Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) is about Apu's early experiences in
rural Bengal, as the son of a poor but high caste family. His father Harihar, a Brahmin, has
difficulty in supporting his family. After the death of Apu's sister, Durga, the family moves to
the holy city of Benares.

28. • In the second film Aparajito (The Unvanquished), the family's finances are still precarious.
After his father dies there, Apu and his mother Sarbajaya come back to a village in Bengal.
Despite incessant poverty, Apu manages to get formal schooling and turns out to be a
brilliant student.
• The growing Apu comes into conflict with his mother. Later, when his mother dies too, he
has to learn to live alone.

29. • In the third film Apur Sansar (The World of Apu), attempting to become a writer, Apu
accidentally finds himself pressured to marry a girl who has rejected her mentally ill
bridegroom.
• Their blossoming marriage ends in her death in childbirth, after which the despairing Apu
abandons his child, but eventually returns to accept his responsibilities.

30. Mayabazar (Telugu: మాయాబజార్) is a folklore Telugu Cinema.
Produced by B.Nagi Reddy andAlur Chakrapani.
Directed by kadri Venkata Reddy.

31.  It was also made in Tamil (released a month later), and the Telugu version was later
dubbed in Kannada. The story, dialogues, and song lyrics were written by Pingali
Nagendra Rao..
 It was directed by the Telugu director K. V. Reddy. Mayabazar is considered one of the
enduring classics of Indian Cinema.
 The music delivered by Saluri Rajeswara Rao (uncredited) and Ghantasala has been
extremely popular.
 The film stars Gummadi Venkateswara Rao as Balarama, NTR as Krishna, ANR as
Abhimanyu, S. V. Ranga Rao as Ghatothkacha, and Savitri as Sasirekha.
 Each and every artist induced life into the characters they played and the movie ultimately
became iconic. A digitally remastered colour version was released in 2010.

32.  The film is based on a folk tale called "Sasirekha Parinayam" popular in Andhra
Pradesh, based on the Mahabharata but not present in it.
 In the initial days of beginning of this project once it was decided to name the
movie as "Sasi Rekha Parinayam".
 But at a later time it was finalised as "Mayabazaar".

33.  During the Pandavas' Agnyatavasa (period of exile), Arjuna sends his wife Subhadra and
their son Abhimanyu to Dwaraka to stay with her brothers,Krishna (N.T.Rama
Rao)and Balarama (Gummadi Venkateswara Rao).
 Sasirekha (Savitri), Balarama's daughter and Abhimanyu (Akkineni) have been in love
with each other from their childhood. Their families had agreed to get them married when
they were children.
 However, Balarama's wife refuses to honour that commitment as the Pandavas no longer
have their kingdoms and are in exile.
 Balarama decides to conduct Sasirekha's marriage with Lakshmana Kumara (Relangi
Venkata Ramaiah) who is son of his favourite disciple, Duryodhana (Mukkamala).
Krishna advises Subhadra to approachGhatotkacha (S.V.Ranga Rao).

34.  Initially Ghatotkacha assumes them to be intruders in his forest and attacks them, but later
apologizes once he realizes who they are.
 He goes to Dwaraka along with his retinue. Using his magical powers he assumes the
form of Sasirekha (Ghatotkacha becomes Maya Sasi Rekha) and goes about wrecking her
marriage with Lakshmana Kumara, while the real Sasirekha is married to Abhimanyu.
 Parallelly, to break the marriage of Maya Sasi Rekha with Lakshmana kumara,
Ghatotkacha's follower's (Ramana Reddy- Played a magician role) enter the Bridegroom's
guest house (Vididi griha) and draws hilarious comedy to the audience with Balaiah and
Allu Rama Lingaiah.
 This a must watch movie for the Telugu people in terms of the Story, Performance of the
artists, Music and especially the special effects by a foreign camera man (in 1950's).

35. Elippathayam
Elippathayam (Translation: The Rat Trap) is an Malayalam Film
Written and Directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan

36. About the Film
 It is critically considered by many to be one of the most
outstanding piece in Adoor Gopalakrishnan's filmography.
 This film documents the feudal life in Kerala at its twilight. The
protagonist is trapped within himself and is unable to comprehend
the changes taking place around him.
 The film won the British Film Institute award for Most Original and
Imaginative film shown at the National Film Theatre in 1982.
 The film was shown at a number of film festivals around the world,
including the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.

37. Plot
 The film is trying to explore the question, what is being? It is an incisive
examination of what constitutes an individual. In close scrutiny, a person
is made out of his actions and interactions. It is always a give and take.
 Unni is the head of a feudal Nair family, unable to cope with the changing
social conditions leading to the decline of the feudal system in Kerala.
Unni, it is always takes and no gives, while for his sister Rajamma it is
always gives and no taking.

38.  While his elder sister Janamma fights for her own family share from
the feudal spoils, his younger sister Rajamma obediently serves him
like a slave, and finally collapses under the strain. Sridevi the
rebellious youngest sister walks away from the family rejecting the
old system. Confronted with adverse conditions, Unni withdraws like
a rat into a dark hole.

39. THE END