Cast: Nargis, Sunil Dutt
Chic, sultry Nargis went prole — brilliantly — as a peasant mother defending her land and family in Mehboob Khan's blockbuster. It's a left-wing Gone With the Wind but grittier and more volcanic. Better songs, too.
As the South Asian International Film Festival kicks off in New York City, feed your Bollywood fever with TIME's list of the best Bollywood classics — as well as our Five Essential Bollywood movies to Netflix.
Mother India - 1957