Poster produced for Hindi feature film ‘Mother India’

Poster produced for the film ‘Mother India’ released in the year 1957. A definitive cultural classic, regarded as a seminal film in Indian cinema, the movie was directed by Mehboob Khan, and starred Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar (their names all rendered in English on the top end of the poster). 'Mother India' metaphorically represented India as a newly independent nation, alluding to a strong sense of nationalism and nation-building — the title, in fact, was chosen to counter American author, Katherine Mayo's 1927 polemical book Mother India, which criticised Indian culture. Released amid much fanfare, the film had several high-profile screenings, including one at the capital New Delhi attended by the country's president and prime minister. This poster featuring a long suffering Nargis and the plough on a diagonal axis has also since assumed iconic status in Indian popular visual culture.