Mammo (1994)

13 year old Riyaz lives a poor lifestyle in Bombay, India, with his grandmother, Fayyuzi, and her sister, Mehmooda alias Mammo. Quite outspoken and embittered over his dad abandoning him, ... See full summary »

Director:

Shyam Benegal

Writers:

Khalid Mohamed (original story & screenplay), Shama Zaidi (additional screenplay & dialogue),

Stars:

Farida Jalal, Surekha Sikri, Amit Phalke

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Farida Jalal	...	Mammo
Surekha Sikri	...	Fayyazi
Amit Phalke	...	Riyaz
Himani Shivpuri	...	Anwari
Shri Vallabh Vyas	...	Sabir (as Shrivallabh Vyas)
Ameya Balsekar	...	Rohan
Soumya Dhan	...	Faroukh
Kishore Kadam	...	Agent Raju
Sandeep Kulkarni	...	Inspector Apte
Siraj Ahmed	...	C.I.D. Inspector
Ganesh Yadav	...	Constable
Snehal Vilankar	...	Shantabai
Sanjay Batra	...	Shantabai's husband
Rupal Patel	...	Lady Constable
Salim Shah	...	Taxi Driver

Storyline

13 year old Riyaz lives a poor lifestyle in Bombay, India, with his grandmother, Fayyuzi, and her sister, Mehmooda alias Mammo. Quite outspoken and embittered over his dad abandoning him, Riyaz does not have many friends, save for Rohan. When Mammo plans a surprise birthday party for him, Riyaz is offended as he believes his friends will make fun of him as his lifestyle is not as good as their's. Fayyuzi and Riyaz have an argument with Mammo, and she leaves for the Mosque at Haji Ali, but returns when both apologize to her. Although Mammo was born in Panipat during the British Raj, she was one of thousands of Muslims who left for Pakistan. She was married over there, could not conceive, was branded a "barren woman", and asked to leave. Having nowhere else to go, she came to live with her widowed sister in Bombay on a temporary Visa. Every month she would walk to the nearest Police Station and get an extension. She finally paid a Rs.4800/ as a bribe in order to get a permanent visa ...

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Plot Keywords:

sister | muslim | grandmother grandson relationship | marital abuse | credit card | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

8 June 2001 (Switzerland)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Doordarshan, National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by Zubeidaa (2001)

User Reviews

Farida Jalal's best performance

Though I saw Mammo quite a long time back, many scenes of this brilliant movie are still fresh in my memory. Farida Jala puffing the cigarette, her scenes with the police, her interactions with the old nani...it feels sad that she has not been utilized int his manner before. Shyam benegal extracts her best. Though Farida has been doing many 'character roles' for a long time now, only 'Dekh Bhai Dekh', a television series, comes to my mind in her recent avatar and movies like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, raja Hindustani and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Not having seen much of her earlier acting ( she's been acting for ages, I guess ), she will remain for me 'Mammo', the aunt.