Daadi Maa


Daadi Maa is a 1966 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by L. V. Prasad and starring Ashok Kumar, Bina Rai, Mumtaz, Tanuja and Durga Khote.

Plot

Parvati hopes to repair the relationship between her husband Raja Pratap Rai and his stepmother. So she takes in her sister-in-law's baby as her own, while the true heir gets raised up in the status of a servant. Will this secret be found out and what will happen?

Cast

  • Durga Khote as Daadi Maa / Rajmata
  • Ashok Kumar as Raja Pratap Rai, her step-son
  • Bina Rai as Rani Maa Parvati Devi, wife of Raja Pratap Rai
  • Shashikala as Ganga, sister of Raja Pratap Rai
  • Mehmood as Mahesh, husband of Ganga
  • Rehman as Dr. Bharati, brother of Rani Maa Parvati Devi
  • Chand Usmani as Dr. Bharati's wife; she is a former nurse from a family background deemed lowly by the Raja
  • Purnima as Bahurani, the widowed daughter-in-law of Rajmata and the actual mother of Shankar
  • Dilip Raj as Shankar, actually the son of Bahurani but raised by Raja Pratap Rai and Rani Parvati Devi as their son
  • Kashinath Ghanekar as Somu, actual son of Raja Pratap Rai and Rani Parvati Devi
  • Mumtaz as Seema
  • Tanuja as Saguna
  • David as Balram
  • Kanhaiyalal as Totaram, a courtier of the Raja
  • Jankidas as Pandit Gyandutt, a courtier of the Raja
  • Mukri in a role as a courtier of the Raja

    Songs

Reception

In a typically negative review, K. Shankar Pillai, in a column for the magazine Shankar's Weekly, wrote of Daadi Maa in 1966, "Whatever else our faults as a nation, none shall ever blame us for letting down Indian motherhood... Bina Rai is the Mom with the halo, married to Ashok Kumar who is quick to scowl, yell and shoot at people. He is no lover here; he is a Rajah entitled to the said tantrums. He even stands for elections, which is quite understandable since Rajahs are elected or nominated nowadays. He is opposed by a commoner backed by Durga Khote, who is the stepmother of Ashok Kumar... Brother-in-law Rehman is an ardent believer in socialism and looks as though he has swallowed Avadi and all that hook, line and sinker .... Mehmood appears often, trying hard to raise a laugh or two. He is the only relieving feature, although he too contributes his share of hamming... Kumar is getting more rotund and even he is obviously fed up with Indian cinema, whatever film journals might say".