| Maa Bhoomi | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Goutam Ghose |
| Screenplay by | B. Narsing Rao Goutam Ghose |
| Dialogue by |
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| Based on | Jab Khet Jage byKrishan Chander |
| Produced by | B. Narsing Rao G. Ravindranath |
| Starring | Sai Chand Rami Reddy Telangana Shakuntala |
| Narrated by | Jaggayya |
| Cinematography | Kamal Naik |
| Edited by | D. Raja Gopal |
| Music by | Vinjamuri Seetha Devi Goutam Ghose |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Chaithanya Chithra International |
Release date |
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Running time | 158 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
Maa Bhoomi (transl. Our land) is a 1979 IndianTelugu-languagesocial problem film directed byGoutam Ghose in his debut. The film is produced byB. Narsing Rao, who also wrote the film with Goutam Ghose. The film is based on the novelJab Khet Jage byKrishan Chander on theTelangana Rebellion inHyderabad State.[1] It depicts a typical life of villagers under feudalistic society in the Telangana region. The film featuresSai Chand,Rami Reddy andTelangana Shakuntala in pivotal roles. The plot follows Ramayya, a landless peasant who joins theTelangana Rebellion of 1948.
Released on 23 March 1979, the film was a commercial success and had a theatrical run of over a year.[2]Maa Bhoomi was India's official entry in the "Opera Primo" section at theKarlovy Vary International Film Festival of June–July 1980, and theCork Film Festival, October 1980,[3] the Cairo and Sidney Film Festivals 1980.[4] The film was showcased at theIndian Panorama of the7th International Film Festival of India.[5]Maa Bhoomi won the stateNandi Award for Best Feature Film, and theFilmfare Best Film Award (Telugu).[6] It is featured amongCNN-IBN's list of "hundred greatest Indian films of all time".[7]
The film follows the story of a young landlessTelangana peasant named Ramayya (Sai Chand) from Siripuram, Nalgonda, a region under foreign rule. TheBritish have appointed theNizam as the region's governor. The Nizam, in turn, has appointed theReddys and thePatils as the Zamindars (known locally asDoras) of the region who collect taxes among various other things for the Nizam. Further, the Nizam has granted them with titles,Jagirs and judicial rights enabling them to seize thousands of acres of land from the peasants, turning them into tenants.
Ramayya's newly married friend Ramulu is aghast when his wife is taken by the Dora's men and raped. Ramayya falls in love with a Lambadi girl. When he finds out that she also has to service the Dora sexually, he gets upset and leaves the village. He later repents his anger at her. Ramayya then moves to Suryapet where he works with aseth. The seth's wife attempts to molest him in secrecy. When he rejects her advances, she accuses him of theft. He leaves Suryapet and ends up in Hyderabad where he works as a rickshaw puller.
In Hyderabad, while pulling the rickshaw one day, he coughs a lot. The passenger asks him to stop and walks along with him the rest of the way. He asks Ramayya to get his cough checked. He also advices him to join a union. Ramayya is told to stop rickshaw pulling by a doctor and is asked to find other temporary work. Ramayya joins a factory as a labourer. One day his coworker comes and tells him that there is a speech being given at the gate and asks him to attend. He attends the speech which calls for a strike and unionizing. He recognizes the speaker as the same passenger and goes up to speak to him. Ramayya slowly becomes a part of the union and with the encouragement of his mentor educates himself.
Ramayya eventually moves back to his village and joins the movement against the landlords. The peasants formed various paramilitary groups and launchguerilla warfare attacks across the region with country-made weapons. They raid and take over regionalDora bases across rural Telangana at night and burn all the land documents found in the bases in the open yard symbolising their triumph. Eventually, they take over the village after the Indian Independence.
TheDoras manage to escape toHyderabad reporting the events to the Nizam leadership. The Nizam commands theRazakars, a privateIslamist militia, which perpetrates a massacre of the Telangana peasants. After months of burning, looting, rapes and killings, the Indian army marches into Hyderabad and suppresses the Razakars and the Nizam withOperation Polo in September 1948 and annexes the Telangana region back into the Indian Union.