''Mathru Bhoomi'' is a 1939 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language film directed by H. M. Reddy. It was an adaptation of the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

stage play ''Chandragupta'' by Dwijendralal Ray.

Plot

The film was based on

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

's invasion of India, an

allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

to the British conquest and occupation of India.

Production

''Mathru Bhoomi'' is an adaptation of the

stage play '' Chandragupta''. The film was mounted on a record budget of 2 lakh {worth 34 crore in 2021 prices) and took 1 year to complete. P. S. Ramakrishna Rao, who went on to become a popular director in Telugu cinema, joined the film as an assistant director. In 1937, the Indian nationalist party the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

defeated the pro-British Justice Party for the first time in the elections to the Madras Legislative Assembly and

Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activis ...

was sworn in as the Chief Minister. As an immediate consequence of this change of guard, censorship was relaxed on

Tamil films Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...

. Encouraged by the new government's policies, a few films were made glorifying the Indian independence movement and Indian national leaders of which ''Mathrubhoomi'' was one.

References

External links

* 1939 films Films scored by Papanasam Sivan 1930s Tamil-language films Films set in ancient India Indian films based on plays Films directed by H. M. Reddy Indian black-and-white films {{1930s-Tamil-film-stub