It’s the second Sunday of May today, which is, of course, celebrated as Mother’s Day all over the world.
Life doesn’t come with a manual, it comes with a mother. And we couldn’t agree more with this. As long as we have our moms to cover our backs for us, we know everything’s gonna be alright. Happy Mother’s Day everyone!
So let’s celebrate motherhood – where all love begins and ends!
What better day than today to celebrate mothers and the best movies streaming on OTT that have superstar mothers!
Watch one, watch two, or watch all of them over several days, and let the soft serenity of mother’s love seep into your soul.
So, here goes!
Mother India – Jio Cinema, Eros Now, MX Player
On Mother’s Day, it’s apt that we begin our list with the mother of all motherhood movies — Mother India, director Mehboob Khan’s magnum opus. The multiple Filmfare Award winner had Nargis playing a widowed mother, who faces terrible hardships to bring up her two sons, and in the end is compelled to shoot dead her morally-wrong son, a son she has always doted upon. It is an iconic movie, and a must-watch for lovers of great cinema
Mom, Netflix
Sridevi’s last screen appearance before her tragic death, Mom is a fitting tribute to the raw, powerful sentiments of a mother who becomes a tigress to protect the dignity of her child – even when the child is a stepdaughter who doesn’t accept her as her mother. Sridevi has put in a brilliant performance as a mother who brutally avenges her stepdaughter’s gangrape. She won the Best Actress National. Award for her performance in the movie, albeit posthumously.
Aamhi Doghi – Amazon Prime Video
This Marathi movie explores the relationship between a young disturbed headstrong girl, played by Priya Bapat, and her almost-her-own-age stepmother, played by Mukta Barve. The poignant, heart-touching movie shows how the two women, an unlikely mother-daughter pair, form a supportive bond towards the end of the movie.
Lady Bird – Netflix
Lady Bird is a movie that’s essential viewing for every mother and daughter. Written and directed by Greta Gerwig (who’s just made Little Women), it features Saoirse Ronan as a daughter who feels stifled by her life and her disciplinarian mother, played by Laurie Metcalf; a mother who is tough, but loves her unconditionally. The movie explores their complicated relationship in a delicately shot narrative. It is a sensitive, beautifully-crafted movie that’s utterly moving and affecting.
Dostana, Netflix
Dostana, produced by Karan Johar, offers a different take on motherhood. It celebrates the woke, modern mother who unconditionally accepts her kids as they are, warts and all. It shows a traditional mother played by Kirron Kher, who dreams of a conventional Punjabi wedding for her son, played by Abhishek Bachchan. But when she finds out he’s gay (as per the plot, he’s only pretending to be gay, but she doesn’t know that), she puts aside her dreams, even giving her kangan as ‘shagun’ to her son’s choice, John Abraham. The movie is a riot, and Kirron Kher is brilliant in it!
Helicopter Eela – Disney Plus Hotstar
It is a quirky movie about a mother Eela, beautifully played by Kajol, who takes meddlesome parenting to a whole new level. Abandoned by her husband, she tries to bring up her son singlehandedly, and is so paranoid about raising him well that she even joins the same college as him. Eventually, it is her son who encourages her to take up her forgotten passion of singing again. Actor Riddhi Sen plays her son in the gently humorous, gently heart-touching movie.
Nil Battey Sannata – Jio Cinema, ZEE5, Eros Now
It is a moving story of a school dropout single mother who works menial jobs as a maid just so that her daughter can study and get out of the rut of poverty. In order to motivate the disinterested-in-studies kid, she joins school herself, so that she can tutor her daughter for her tenth boards. The daughter is ashamed and resentful of her mother, but eventually realises her folly, and also her mother’s single minded drive to see her succeed. Swara Bhaskar’s performance as the mother is brilliant, and the movie itself is a must-watch.
Margarita With A Straw – Jio Cinema, YouTube
Kalki Koechlin plays a girl with cerebral palsy, who has a gay relationship with a blind girl, played by Sayani Gupta. Despite exploring complex subjects such as disability rights and alternate sexuality, it is Kalki’s relationship with her orthodox mother, played by Revathi, that is a standout element of the movie. The end shows a role reversal where Kalki‘s character cares for her dying mother in the hospital. At her funeral, the aspiring musician daughter plays her mother’s composition, and accepts that her mother was the only one who ever understood and accepted her for what she is. It is a beautifully portrayed depiction of a mother-daughter relationship.
Village Rockstars – Netflix
This National Award winning Assamese movie has a young girl in a tiny village in Assam dreaming of starting her own rock band. Her widowed mother, despite having no resources, supports her in her endeavour, even fighting the stifling patriarchy prevalent in the village. A must-watch to revel in the power of dreams, and the freedom to dream those dreams when you’ve got your mother staunchly behind you.
Baahubali Franchise – Netflix
If Mother India is the mother of all motherhood movies, then the Baahubali franchise is definitely the ‘baap’! The characters of Sivagami (Ramya Krishnan) and Devasena (Anushka Shetty) are two of the most powerful mother characters in all of modern cinema. Both ladies, especially Sivagami, are fiery, feisty and fiercely protective of their progeny, leaving such an impact on the minds of viewers that they’ll be remembered for years and years to come.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. Do watch these movies and enjoy!
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