MOVIE

Hindustan Hamara

1940 · 136 min ·

Feudal melodrama: Veena (Jamuna), daughter of an exploitative landlord and wife of the drunkard Chunilal (Shivdasani), defies her family and fights for the exploited peasantry. In the process she falls in love with the poor Madhu (Nandrekar). When her evil husband cannot undermine the peasants' unity he commits suicide. The heroine is disinherited by her father, but remains committed to nationalism. The film prominently deploys Gandhian symbols (e.g. the spinning wheel), and contrasts an idyllic notion of erstwhile India to the penury of its people today.