Maa (1952 film)

Maa
Directed byBimal Roy
Written byNabendu Ghosh
Paul Mahendra
Screenplay byBimal Roy
Story byAsit Sen
Nabendu Ghosh
Produced byBombay Talkies
StarringBharat Bhushan
Shyama
Nazir Hussain
Leela Chitnis
CinematographyI. Wirsching
Edited byHrishikesh Mukherjee
Music byS. K. Pal
Production
company
Distributed byBombay Talkies
Release date
  • 1952 (1952)
Running time
140 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Maa (Mother) is a 1952 Indian Hindi-language social family drama directed by Bimal Roy for Bombay Talkies. Bimal Roy was asked to come to Bombay from Calcutta to direct the film for the studio, which was going through bad times. Bombay Talkies' earlier favourite Leela Chitnis was cast in the eponymous role of Mother.[1] This was the first film Roy directed in Bombay. Later, he was to break away and form his own production company: Bimal Roy Productions. The first film he produced and directed under his new banner was Do Bigha Zameen (1953), the next year.[2]

The cinematographer was Josef Wirsching. The film's music was composed by S. K. Pal with lyrics by Bharat Vyas.[3] The film co-starred Bharat Bhushan, Shyama, Nazir Hussain, Mehmood and B. M. Vyas.[4]

The story was said to be adapted loosely from the old Hollywood film Over The Hills,[5] which was about a "self-sacrificing son and his mother". According to B. D. Garga, the film's sentimental melodrama was handled with intelligence and finesse by Roy, which stopped it from becoming a "mushy tear-jerker".[6]

  1. ^ Bhaichand Patel (2012). Bollywood's Top 20: Superstars of Indian Cinema. Penguin Books India. pp. 35–. ISBN 978-0-670-08572-9. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  2. ^ Gulazāra; Saibal Chatterjee (2003). "Roy, Bimal". Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Popular Prakashan. pp. 639–. ISBN 978-81-7991-066-5. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  3. ^ Hanif Zaveri (1 January 2005). "Filmography". Mehmood, a Man of Many Moods. Popular Prakashan. pp. 171–. ISBN 978-81-7991-213-3. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Maa". citwf.com. Alan Goble. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Maa". bimalroymemorial.org. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  6. ^ B D Garga (1 December 2005). Art Of Cinema. Penguin Books Limited. pp. 74–. ISBN 978-81-8475-431-5. Retrieved 30 July 2015.