Maa Bhoomi

Maa Bhoomi (transl. Our land) is a 1979 Indian Telugu-language social problem film directed by Goutam Ghose in his debut. The film is produced by B. Narsing Rao, who also wrote the film with Goutam Ghose. The film is based on the novel Jab Khet Jage by Krishan Chander on the Telangana Rebellion in Hyderabad State.^[1] It depicts a typical life of villagers under feudalistic society in the Telangana region. The film features Sai Chand, Rami Reddy and Telangana Shakuntala in pivotal roles. The plot follows Ramayya, a landless peasant who joins the Telangana Rebellion of 1948.

Maa Bhoomi
Poster
Directed by	Goutam Ghose
Screenplay by	B. Narsing Rao Goutam Ghose
Dialogue by	Partho Banerjee Praan Rao
Based on	Jab Khet Jage by Krishan Chander
Produced by	B. Narsing Rao G. Ravindranath
Starring	Sai Chand Rami Reddy Telangana Shakuntala
Narrated by	Jaggayya
Cinematography	Kamal Naik
Edited by	D. Raja Gopal
Music by	Vinjamuri Seetha Devi Goutam Ghose
Production company	Saradhi Studios
Distributed by	Chaithanya Chithra International
Release date	23 March 1979 (1979-03-23)
Running time	158 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu

Released on 23 March 1979, the film was a commercial success and had a theatrical run of over a year.^[2] Maa Bhoomi was India's official entry in the "Opera Primo" section at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival of June–July 1980, and the Cork Film Festival, October 1980,^[3] the Cairo and Sidney Film Festivals 1980.^[4] The film was showcased at the Indian Panorama of the 7th International Film Festival of India.^[5] Maa Bhoomi won the state Nandi Award for Best Feature Film, and the Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu).^[6] It is featured among CNN-IBN's list of "hundred greatest Indian films of all time".^[7]

Plot

The film follows the story of a young landless Telangana peasant named Ramayya (Sai Chand) from Siripuram, Nalgonda, a region under foreign rule. The British have appointed the Nizam as the region's governor. The Nizam, in turn, has appointed the Reddys and the Patils as the Zamindars (known locally as Doras) of the region who collect taxes among various other things for the Nizam. Further, the Nizam has granted them with titles, Jagirs and judicial rights enabling them to seize thousands of acres of land from the peasants, turning them into tenants.

Ramayya's newly married friend Ramulu is aghast when his wife is taken by the Dora's men and raped. Ramayya falls in love with a Lambadi girl. When he finds out that she also has to service the Dora sexually, he gets upset and leaves the village. He later repents his anger at her. Ramayya then moves to Suryapet where he works with a seth. The seth's wife attempts to molest him in secrecy. When he rejects her advances, she accuses him of theft. He leaves Suryapet and ends up in Hyderabad where he works as a rickshaw puller.

In Hyderabad, while pulling the rickshaw one day, he coughs a lot. The passenger asks him to stop and walks along with him the rest of the way. He asks Ramayya to get his cough checked. He also advices him to join a union. Ramayya is told to stop rickshaw pulling by a doctor and is asked to find other temporary work. Ramayya joins a factory as a labourer. One day his coworker comes and tells him that there is a speech being given at the gate and asks him to attend. He attends the speech which calls for a strike and unionizing. He recognizes the speaker as the same passenger and goes up to speak to him. Ramayya slowly becomes a part of the union and with the encouragement of his mentor educates himself.

Ramayya eventually moves back to his village and joins the movement against the landlords. The peasants formed various paramilitary groups and launch guerilla warfare attacks across the region with country-made weapons. They raid and take over regional Dora bases across rural Telangana at night and burn all the land documents found in the bases in the open yard symbolising their triumph. Eventually, they take over the village after the Indian Independence.

The Doras manage to escape to Hyderabad reporting the events to the Nizam leadership. The Nizam commands the Razakars, a private Islamist militia, which perpetrates a massacre of the Telangana peasants. After months of burning, looting, rapes and killings, the Indian army marches into Hyderabad and suppresses the Razakars and the Nizam with Operation Polo in September 1948 and annexes the Telangana region back into the Indian Union.

Cast

• Sai Chand as Ramayya
• Kakarala
• Rami Reddy^[8]
• Telangana Shakuntala^[8]
• Pradeep Kumar
• Prasad Rao
• Yadagiri
• Kondavalasa Lakshmana Rao
• Pradeep Shakthi as Pratapa Reddy

Soundtrack

• "Bandenaka Bandi Katti Padahaaru Bandlu Katti" written by Bandi Yadagiri
• "Palletoori Pillagaada Pasalagaase Monagaada" (with titles) written by Suddala Hanumanthu
• "Podala Podala Gatla Naduma, Podicinadhira Chandamama"

Awards

Nandi Awards^[9]

• Second Best Feature Film - B. Narsing Rao and G. Ravindranath
• Best Screenplay Writer - B. Narsing Rao and Pran Rao

Filmfare Awards South

• Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) - B. Narsing Rao

References

1. "Award-winning B. Narasinga Rao brings quality to Telugu cinema". India Today.
2. Kishore, E Sai (15 March 2015). "35years on, still a benchmark". The Hans India.
3. "Filmtsav' 80 Pg 17" (PDF). DFF.
4. "8th IFFI Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
5. "Indian Panorama 1979–80" (PDF). DFF.
6. "Narsing Rao's films regale Delhi" (Press release). webindia123.com. 21 December 2008. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
7. "100 Years of Indian Cinema: The 100 greatest Indian films of all time". Archived from the original on 24 April 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
8. Krishnamoorthy, Suresh (24 March 2015). "Maa Bhoomi will forever be alive in people's minds". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
9. "నంది అవార్డు విజేతల పరంపర (1964–2008)" [A series of Nandi Award Winners (1964–2008)] (PDF). Information & Public Relations of Andhra Pradesh. Retrieved 21 August 2020.(in Telugu)

External links

• Maa Bhoomi at IMDb