International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

E-ISSN: 2582-2160   •   Impact Factor: 9.24

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Call for Paper Volume 8, Issue 5 (September-October 2026) Submit your research before last 3 days of October to publish your research paper in the issue of September-October.
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Volume 8 Issue 5
September-October 2026

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Reading ‘Mother India’ Through An Eco-critical Lens: Environment, Rural Livelihoods, And Development

Author(s) Mr. Sachin Kumar
Country India
Abstract This paper offers an ecocritical reading of Mehboob Khan’s movie Mother India (1957) by examining how the film represents the relationship between the rural community and its environment. The existing scholarship has largely focused on the film’s nationalist, gendered, and developmental dimensions, and has comparatively paid little attention to the role of the natural environment in shaping the lives and livelihoods of its characters. The paper focuses on the flood sequence and the concluding irrigation canal scene and argues that Mother India portrays environmental events not simply as narrative backdrops. They become the driving forces that influence economic insecurity and social relations. The flood exposes the vulnerability of agrarian communities whose survival depends on ecological stability, while the irrigation canal reflects the post-Independence belief that technological development could address the uncertainties of rural life. Through the reading of these two sequences together, the paper explores how the film negotiates ideas of environmental vulnerability, agricultural development, and state intervention. It further suggests that these concerns continue to resonate in the context of contemporary debates on climate variability, water management, and agrarian distress in South Asia. The paper does not treat Mother India solely as a nationalist narrative but attempts to highlight its relevance for understanding the interconnected relationship between ecology, rural livelihoods, and development.
Keywords Ecocriticism; Mother India; Agrarian Distress; Environmental Vulnerability; Rural Development.
Field Arts > Movies / Music / TV
Published In Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On 2026-10-22
DOI https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i05.90280
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CrossRef DOI prefix of IJFMR is 10.36948/ijfmr

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