Happy Mother’s Day: Which of these cinema maa does your mother come close to?

On Mother’s Day today, we bet your social media feed is full of saccharine sweet posts dedicated to mothers and motherhood. While we can see a Nirupa Roy getting all teary-eyed over this outpour of love, wonder what would a squinting Lalita Pawar make of this sudden realisation of the importance of a mother. It certainly also won’t go down well with Aruna Irani if her ‘Beta’ did this, but she might be more forgiving it was ‘Raja Babu’ doing the same, no? We can certainly see Reema Lagoo melting at the sight of such PDA, but a Kirron Kher would probably scoff at it and ask for a better gesture in return.

To sum it up, while their onscreen children go on to bask under the spotlight as lead actors, Bollywood’s mothers don several garbs to steer the plot in the right direction and take the story to its conclusion. Just like in Indian mythology that celebrates Goddesses for their unique powers and invokes the deity most needed in a given situation, Bollywood wields out these mothers according to the purpose of the film. As opposed to general perception, the Hindi film industry has lent several shades to its mothers over the years, and while the all-enduring sacrificial figure is one of them, it is not the only one. Here’s taking a look at the many faces of the cinema maa we have known over the years:

The zenith of sacrifice, these mothers are the ultimate face of compassion, unflinching in the face of violence when it comes to protecting their children from harm. Think Sulochana in ‘Johny Mera Naam’ who despite getting thrashed by the goons doesn’t reveal the identity of her cop son. Talk about being a good keeper of secrets!

Like spinach is to Popeye, maa ka doodh is to Bollywood’s ‘Mard’. And many Bollywood mothers have cited this loaned power to their sons in order to instigate them into seeking revenge from their arch-rivals. What can be a better example of this than Raakhee forcing his sons to reincarnate to avenge the injustice meted out to her by the film’s villain. Hollywood may have The Avengers, we have the Mother of Avengers.

While in ‘Taare Zameen Par’ a distraught Ishaan sings this for his dear mother who would understand what he meant without words, taken literally, the lyrics are perfect to describe Kajol’s character in ‘Helicopter Eela’ who goes as far as taking admission in the same college as her son just so that she can know his whereabouts. Also, Jaya Bachchan’s maa in ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ who doesn’t even need to be a helicopter mom to know when his son’s helicopter lands. Phew, James Bond isn’t a patch on the psychic spy that is the Indian mother.

Every time a script demanded an evil mother, Bollywood turned to fairytales and borrowed the stepmother to inflict pain on the protagonist. Until recently, stepmothers were synonymous with torture and unfair behaviour. Remember Manorama who played the conniving Kaushalya in ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’ making the feisty Geeta slave away while she frolicked around with her biological daughter? Yes, that.

No, we are not referring to the mothers that we see on OTT platforms. This is an ode to the over-the-top mothers of Hindi cinema. Think Kirron Kher in ‘Om Shanti Om’ or ‘Dostana 2’. They may be caricatures of their old dramatic selves, but are equally endearing in their loud expression of love, no matter how embarrassing it gets for their kids.

Deny all you may, but moms can be extremely competitive, teaching their kids early on that the world is not a fair place to be. While in complete contrast to the sacrificial mothers of yore, these maa is more relatable and funny. Sridevi’s Sashi in ‘English Vinglish’ doesn’t smile away the mocking of her family and instead turns her life around, showing her children how it’s done. Mothers are OGs after all.

Just like brave soldiers defending the country’s borders, these onscreen mothers take it upon themselves to protect society from their wayward children. Mouthing dialogues like, ‘Shayad, mere hi parvarish mein koi kami reh gayi thi’, they shoot down the same kids that were once the apples of their eye. Nargis in ‘Mother India’ and Reema Lagoo in ‘Vaastav’ were lauded for their strong portrayals in respective films.

Your mom might be strict enough to not let you go on that Goa trip, but she won’t come close to these cinema mothers, who reign over their families like a dictator. Think of the strict disciplinarian Dina Pathak in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s ‘Khoobsurat’, and you’d know what we mean.

The new crop of Bollywood mothers is every kid’s dream come true. Not only are they accommodating of the mistakes their children make but are also friends with whom their onscreen children can share everything. Ratna Pathak Shah in ‘Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu’ and Farida Jalal in ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ are prime examples of this type of cinema maa.

When it comes to their children, mothers can be the most ferocious characters as is evidenced by Sridevi’s turn in ‘Mom’ or Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s ‘Jazbaa’ character. It is at such times that the mother becomes the protagonist of the film.