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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Maa Bhoomi
| image = Maa Bhoomi.jpg
| caption = Poster
| director = [[Goutam Ghose]]
| screenplay = [[B. Narsing Rao]] Goutam Ghose
{{Infobox | decat = yes | child = yes
| label1= Dialogue by
| data1 = {{ubl|Partho Banerjee Praan Rao}}
}}
| narrator = [[Jaggayya]]
| based_on = {{based on|''Jab Khet Jage''|[[Krishan Chander]]}}
| producer = B. Narsing Rao G. Ravindranath
| starring = [[Sai Chand]] [[Rami Reddy (actor)|Rami Reddy]] [[Telangana Shakuntala]]
| cinematography = Kamal Naik
| editing = D. Raja Gopal
| music = [[Vinjamuri Seetha Devi]] Goutam Ghose
| studio = [[Saradhi Studios]]
| distributor =Chaithanya Chithra International
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1979|03|23}}
| runtime = 158 minutes
| country = India
| language = Telugu
}}
'''''Maa Bhoomi''''' ({{translation|Our land}}) is a 1979 Indian [[Telugu language|Telugu]]-language [[social problem film]] directed by [[Goutam Ghose]] in his debut. The film is produced by [[B. Narsing Rao]], who also wrote the film with Goutam Ghose. The film is based on the novel ''Jab Khet Jage'' by [[Krishan Chander]] on the [[Telangana Rebellion]] in [[Hyderabad State]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/films/story/19890615-award-winning-b.-narasinga-rao-brings-quality-to-telugu-cinema-816201-1989-06-15 |title=Award-winning B. Narasinga Rao brings quality to Telugu cinema |work=India Today}}</ref> It depicts a typical life of villagers under feudalistic society in the Telangana region. The film features [[Sai Chand]], [[Rami Reddy (actor)|Rami Reddy]] and [[Telangana Shakuntala]] in pivotal roles. The plot follows Ramayya, a landless peasant who joins the [[Telangana Rebellion]] of 1948.

Released on 23 March 1979, the film was a commercial success and had a theatrical run of over a year.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kishore|first=E Sai|date=15 March 2015|title=35years on, still a benchmark|url=https://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Hyderabad-Tab/2015-03-15/35years-on-still-a-benchmark/137481|website=[[The Hans India]]}}</ref> ''Maa Bhoomi'' was India's official entry in the "Opera Primo" section at the [[Karlovy Vary International Film Festival]] of June–July 1980, and the [[Cork International Film Festival|Cork Film Festival]], October 1980,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://dff.nic.in/images/Documents/141_IPCatalogue1980-81.pdf |title=Filmtsav' 80 Pg 17 |publisher=DFF}}</ref> the Cairo and Sidney Film Festivals 1980.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm8IIFAAward.aspx?PdfName=8IIFA.pdf |title=8th IFFI Archived copy |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101233112/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm8IIFAAward.aspx?PdfName=8IIFA.pdf |archive-date=2018-01-01 |access-date=2018-01-11}}</ref> The film was showcased at the ''Indian Panorama'' of the [[7th International Film Festival of India]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://dff.nic.in/images/Documents/142_IPCatalogue1979-80.pdf |title=Indian Panorama 1979–80 |publisher=DFF}}</ref> ''Maa Bhoomi'' won the state [[Nandi Award for Best Feature Film]], and the [[Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu)]].<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Narsing Rao's films regale Delhi |date=21 December 2008 |publisher=webindia123.com |url=http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20081221/1134082.html |access-date=2012-08-25 |archive-date=6 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106105835/http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20081221/1134082.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is featured among [[CNN-IBN]]'s list of "hundred greatest Indian films of all time".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/photogallery/13200.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424003536/http://ibnlive.in.com/photogallery/13200.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 April 2013 |title=100 Years of Indian Cinema: The 100 greatest Indian films of all time |access-date=14 September 2016}}</ref>

== Plot ==
The film follows the story of a young landless [[Telangana]] peasant named Ramayya (Sai Chand) from Siripuram, Nalgonda, a region under foreign rule. The [[United Kingdom|British]] have appointed the [[Nizam]] as the region's governor. The Nizam, in turn, has appointed the [[Reddy]]s and the [[Patil (surname)|Patils]] as the Zamindars (known locally as ''Doras'') of the region who collect taxes among various other things for the Nizam. Further, the Nizam has granted them with titles, [[Jagir]]s 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 a ''seth''. 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 launch [[Guerrilla warfare|guerilla warfare]] attacks across the region with country-made weapons. They raid and take over regional ''Dora'' 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.

The ''Doras'' manage to escape to [[Hyderabad]] reporting the events to the Nizam leadership. The Nizam commands the [[Razakars (Hyderabad)|Razakars]], a private [[Islamism|Islamist]] 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 with [[Operation Polo]] in September 1948 and annexes the Telangana region back into the Indian Union.

== Cast ==
{{cast listing|
* [[Sai Chand]] as Ramayya
* Kakarala
*[[Rami Reddy (actor)|Rami Reddy]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Krishnamoorthy|first=Suresh|date=2015-03-24|title=Maa Bhoomi will forever be alive in people's minds|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/maa-bhoomi-will-forever-be-alive-in-peoples-minds/article7025857.ece|access-date=2020-06-04|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>
*[[Telangana Shakuntala]]<ref name=":0" />
*[[Pradeep Kumar (actor)|Pradeep Kumar]]
*Prasad Rao
*Yadagiri
*[[Kondavalasa Lakshmana Rao]]
*[[Pradeep Shakthi]] as Pratapa Reddy

}}

== Soundtrack ==
*"Bandenaka Bandi Katti Padahaaru Bandlu Katti" written by Bandi Yadagiri
*"Palletoori Pillagaada Pasalagaase Monagaada" (with titles) written by [[Suddala Hanumanthu]]
*"Podala Podala Gatla Naduma, Podicinadhira Chandamama"

== Awards ==
;[[Nandi Awards]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ipr.ap.nic.in/New_Links/Film.pdf|title=నంది అవార్డు విజేతల పరంపర (1964–2008)|trans-title=A series of Nandi Award Winners (1964–2008)|publisher=[[Andhra Pradesh (magazine)|Information & Public Relations of Andhra Pradesh]]|access-date=21 August 2020}}(in [[Telugu language|Telugu]])</ref>
*[[Nandi Award for Best Feature Film|Second Best Feature Film]] - [[B. Narsing Rao]] and G. Ravindranath
*[[Nandi Award for Best Screenplay Writer|Best Screenplay Writer]] - [[B. Narsing Rao]] and Pran Rao

;[[Filmfare Awards South]]
*[[Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu)]] - [[B. Narsing Rao]]

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0137925}}

{{B. Narsing Rao}}
{{Goutam Ghose}}
{{Filmfare Best Telugu Film}}

[[Category:1979 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:1979 films]]
[[Category:Films about poverty in India]]
[[Category:Films about social issues in India]]
[[Category:Films directed by Goutam Ghose]]
[[Category:Films set in Hyderabad, India]]
[[Category:Films set in Telangana]]
[[Category:History of India on film]]
[[Category:Indian avant-garde and experimental films]]
[[Category:Indian docudrama films]]
[[Category:Indian drama films]]
[[Category:Indian nonlinear narrative films]]
[[Category:Indian war drama films]]
[[Category:Indian war films]]
[[Category:1979 Telugu-language films]]
[[Category:1979 Indian films]]
[[Category:Films based on Indian novels]]

Maa Bhoomi - Revision history

AntoniaWhetsel0 at 20:24, 3 March 2026