Over decades, Bollywood movies have become a large part of many Indian lives and so have its artists. With time, many actors have been getting typecast since people begin to identify them with similar kinds of roles. While Bollywood had earlier shown mothers as sacrificial lambs, the portrayal has been changing over the years.
The films over the past decade have had actors play mothers who are very powerful and are breaking stereotypes. We have compiled a list of Bollywood mothers we love to watch on-screen.
Ten Bollywood Mothers Who Defied Stereotypes
Revathi (Margarita with a Straw)
Revathi's portrayal of a cerebral palsy mother whose daughter struggled to express her sexuality was remarkable. Shonali Bose directed Margarita with a Straw, a 2014 Indian Hindi-language drama film. It stars Kalki Koechlin as a cerebral palsy-affected Indian youngster who moves to America for her undergraduate education and matures as a result of her complicated connection with a blind girl, played by Sayani Gupta. Supporting roles are played by Revathi, Kuljeet Singh, and William Moseley.
Sri Devi (English-Vinglish)
In this film, Shashi (Sridevi) plays a very realistic woman who adores her family and wants to do whatever she can to understand them. It can be tough to fulfil everyone else's wishes while letting go of your own, yet Sridevi transcended this trait, and her performance says it loudly.
Gauri Shinde wrote and directed English Vinglish, a 2012 Indian comedy-drama film. Shashi, a small business owner who creates snacks, is the protagonist of the story. Shashi enrols in an English-language course in order to prevent her husband and daughter from making fun of her lack of English abilities.
Kirron Kher (Dostana)
Mrs Acharya, Sam's (Abhishek Bachchan) mother, is played by Kirron Kher in this 2008 romantic comedy film. Her portrayal of the Punjabi mother steals the show in every scene she appears in. Scenes like the one in which she discovers that her kid is gay will have you laughing out loud, while the scene in which she accepts her son's sexuality and Kunal (John Abraham) as a family will make you cry. Whether it's amusing or heartbreaking, she always pulls it off with class and realism.
Tabu (Drishyam)
Tabu plays a strong female character in the film, she's a kickass cop who spends the entire movie seeking to avenge her son's death, and she succeeds admirably. Drishyam is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language thriller film. Nishikant Kamat directed Drishyam. The film is a remake of the same-titled Malayalam film from 2013. Kumar Mangat Pathak, Ajit Andhare, and Abhishek Pathak produced the film, which stars Ajay Devgn, Tabu, and Shriya Saran, as well as Ishita Dutta and Mrunal Jadhav.
Swara Bhaskar (Nil Battey Sannata)
The Bai with low resources returns to school, not only to encourage her daughter to prioritise her education but also to discover her own passion for it. Bhaskar's incredible performance in the film astonished us all. Nil Battey Sannata is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari in her feature directorial debut.
Swaroop Sampat (Ki and Ka)
Kareena's mother, played by Sampat, is a forward-thinking modern mother who supports and encourages her ambitious daughter to pursue live-in relationships. R. Balki wrote, directed, and produced Ki & Ka, a 2016 Hindi-language romantic comedy film. It stars Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor and portrays a young married couple who defy traditional gender roles in Indian culture by making the husband a stay-at-home husband and the wife a working professional.
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Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Jazbaa)
When it came to her child's protection, this strong lady turned the world upside down all by herself. This single mother-turned-lawyer-turned-badass did more than merely bring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan back to the big screen. Sanjay Gupta directed the 2015 Indian criminal thriller Jazbaa. The story follows an attorney who is obliged to represent an unscrupulous criminal when her daughter is stolen. Shabana Azmi, Jackie Shroff, Atul Kulkarni, and Chandan Roy Sanyal play supporting roles alongside Aishwarya Rai and Irrfan Khan.
Ratna Pathak Shah (Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na)
Ratna Pathak is the cool mother who keeps track of her child's romantic relationships and encourages them to find love in friendship all while kidding around with a portrait of their late father. When Ratna Pathak Shah was horrified to witness Aditi, played by Genelia Dsouza, crying, it was one of the most unforgettable scenes in the film. Also, when Ratna Pathak Shah responded, "Beta is currently available on the phone" was a great scene.
Vidya Balan (Paa)
Paa, a film about a boy's bond with his father, a strong single mother raising a child with a rare and debilitating genetic condition, is an important character. Vidya is a professional and hardworking woman who is also caring and does everything she thinks is best for her child, Auro.
Paa is a 2009 Hindi comedy-drama film directed by R. Balki and the cast includes Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Vidya Balan. The film is focused on the bond between a youngster with a rare genetic illness known as progeria and his parents and was inspired by the 1996 Hollywood film Jack.
Kajol Devgn (Helicopter Eela)
Kajol is a promising singer and single mother but now that her baby son, "Vivan," is all grown up, he doesn't want his mother's life to revolve around him like a typical young millennial.
But, being an overprotective mother, Eela has other plans and enrols her son in college so that she can spend more time with him. Unfortunately, her methods fail, and Vivan retaliates against her for invading his private space. In front of his college mates, she continues to treat Vivan like a child, and their relationship begins to disintegrate. Eela starts to wonder where her fascination with her son came from and how she is still able to pursue her desired job as a teacher.
Pradeep Sarkar directed Helicopter Eela, a 2018 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film. Mitesh Shah and Anand Gandhi wrote the film, it is inspired by Anand Gandhi's Gujarati play Beta, Kaagdo.