Once the emotional anchor of Hindi cinema, the quintessential Bollywood mother shaped generations of storytelling with her sacrifice—until changing times recast her role. Monojit Lahiri discusses the changing face of ‘Maa’ in tinsel town.

The Bollywood mother—once a central pillar of Indian cinema—has undergone a dramatic transformation, reflecting broader cultural shifts in post-liberalization India. Once portrayed as the suffering, sacrificial figure in iconic films like Mother India and Deewar, today’s on-screen mom has become more modern, relatable, and multi-dimensional. As traditional family values make way for contemporary lifestyles, filmmakers are reimagining the “Maa” archetype, blending emotional warmth with independence and realism. This evolution, began in films like Taare Zameen Par, Wake Up Sid, and English Vinglish, and signalled a fresh narrative era.

Right from the golden age (late 1940s, early ‘50s till the late ‘80s), the screen mothers were a critical and intrinsic component of most Bollywood movies. Family fare, romance, comedy—even in the violence-prone products of Salim-Javed (courtesy the ‘Angry Young Man’)—the mother-son relationship took centre stage. In fact, it was in one of their super-hit films, Deewar, that the defining line—‘Mere Paas Maa Hai’—featured, freezing the words and the moment forever.

Mother India and the Iconic Archetype

However, contrary to popular belief, Nirupa Roy’s high-profile and solid, consistent innings with Maa-dom was preceded by perhaps the most famous mother in movie history, Mother India. The 1957 classic showcased the enormous, untapped range of the 27-year-old Nargis, who pulled out all the stops to play a de-glam mother of two sons—gutsy, spirited, fearless, constantly battling against overwhelming odds to emerge victorious even at the cost of personal loss. The role got her applause, accolades, and numerous awards in India and abroad. Her role and the film, however, were a bold departure from the general pattern that coloured this persona—the coughing, virtuous, suffering, sacrificial, caring creature, forever kneeling over a dilapidated sewing machine, rustling up her laadla’s favourite goodies or gently cajoling him to get home a nice bahu! Lalita Pawar, Sulochana, Achala Sachdev, and Leela Chitnis were some of the actresses who epitomized this role to perfection. It would be fair to say that for around four decades, Hindi films were largely Maa-centric.

The Decline of the Archetype

So whatever happened to the moong-ki-daal, aloo paratha, and gajar-ka-halwa rustled up in record time for mere laal by the beta-fixated Devis? Film critic the late Rauf Ahmed had once said to me that this creature in question came with an expiry date and her time was up. He explained, “Post-liberalization, tradition and innocence took a fatal hit and made a quick exit. A raw, blatant consumerist culture came centre stage. Overnight, revered attributes like restraint, moderation, and sacrifice were flung to the trash bin, replaced by the power of acquisition. It was a nation and society in transition, in deadly fast-forward, and fittingly Maa-turned-Mom!”

Changing Times, Changing Characters

Filmmakers agree. Even high-profile directors like Mahesh Bhatt, Rakesh Roshan, and the Yash Raj gang seemed to have pulled the trigger on the old-fashioned Maa. The general reaction and response was that in these new-age times, this creature would appear corny, fake, and hopelessly out of place. Besides, adds another Bolly tracker, “Forget moms, even grandmoms of today are so hip n’ cool and completely in sync with the world they live in! Sure, these Daadis and Naanis love their grandkids, but they also (Vicky Donor) have a life of their own.” Veteran Bolly-watcher Promod Singhal added his own bit to this debate. “It’s simple. If you track some of the biggest hits of recent years, you will notice that not one has a mother in the central role, or of any significance. Thrillers, romance, drama, comedies—where does dear Mother India have a hope in hell to get a look-see, forget starring role!”

Hope in Modern Depictions

Sad but true! And not everyone is happy about screen moms being handed the VRS (Voluntary Retirement Service). Screenwriter, actor, and theatre person Amole Gupte (Taare Zameen Par) offered Tisca Chopra a solid flesh-and-blood part, which, even today, is remembered and talked about. Eminent filmmaker Gulzar got it spot-on, however, with his perspective: “Technology is a reality and because of that, modes of self-expression have changed. Hurried, stolen looks and meetings have been replaced by mails and texts. Similarly, with the march of time, the contours of the mother-son relationship, too, have changed. She is no longer somebody to be blindly worshipped and revered, but loved, understood, and respected. The challenge for today’s filmmakers is to attempt to strike the right balance—present the new-age Maa in a contemporary, credible, and relatable way, and make Mom a buddy and confidante without eliminating the core attributes that define the basic tenets of a mother-child relationship.” If Kiron Kher’s hysterically hammy and ludicrous take in Dostana was any indication, or the ghisa-pitta Rekha-Hema turn in the super bomb, Sadiyan, then Gulzar Bhai’s suggestions will be tough to crack. Thank God for sweet, charming, realistic portrayals like Supriya Pathak’s in Wake Up Sid and the fantastically path-breaking performance of Sridevi in English Vinglish.

What Lies Ahead?

So will ‘Maa’ return? Have the mother-son vibes lost their popular draw? Are gajar-ka-halwa and aloo paratha out of fashion; replaced by burgers, pizza, and coke? Or should we await more portrayals of mothers where they’re not reduced to becoming emotional tools to justify the misadventures of their sons? You tell us, guys!