Aditya N
Aditya N
Some films have ‘classic’ written all over them. They fascinate new and old viewers with each viewing, and the praise and fandom keep increasing. Their fanbase is spread far and wide, and they never stop being relevant. One such story is the legendary and iconic Bollywood movie that has impressed us all for decades and continues to do so: Mother India. This movie managed to take India to the Oscar stage for the first time and turned out to be a global success. It made the legendary Nargis Dutt, Sunil Dutt, and Rajendra Kumar icons of Hindi Cinema. But what if we told you that another legend was almost part of this movie but rejected the offer? That star was Dilip Kumar.
Mother India underwent a fascinating casting process. The addition of the enchanting Nargis sparked debates as she was set to portray a mother to men who were roughly her age, a move that was deemed detrimental to her career in the film industry at that time. However, only a few people anticipated that this decision would turn out to be the pinnacle of her professional journey. Alongside Nargis, Dilip Kumar also had his own justifications for declining the role. During the production of Mother India, Mehboob Khan reportedly asked Dilip Kumar to portray one of the film’s sons, as Kumar mentioned. Although the specific son role remains unspecified, it was indeed one of the sons. Kumar declined the offer, citing his previous romantic on-screen pairings with Nargis, and he found it awkward to play her son in a movie then. In his autobiography, Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow, the esteemed actor disclosed that he had been approached to take on a significant part in the iconic film Mother India. Reflecting on the matter, he penned, “When Mehboob [Khan] Sahab approached me for Mother India in the early 1950s, I found the concept to be brilliant and relevant, and believed it needed to be brought to life at any cost. The character he proposed for me was that of one of Nargis’ sons, and I expressed my concern that it would be an odd choice considering the romantic roles we had portrayed together in previous films like Mela (1948) and Babul (1950).”
The film features Nargis portraying a mother who struggles against poverty to raise her two sons. It depicts her unwavering commitment to her moral principles, even in the face of adversity. She is forced to make a difficult choice when she witnesses her son heading down the wrong path. This movie is available to stream on ShemarooMe in India.
