Open-minded

Sunita Kapoor in Kapoor & Sons

Played by: Ratna Pathak Shah

A mom for all ages. Cool, friendly, open-minded. Ratna Pathak Shah’s Sunita in Kapoor & Sons was a mom fighting many personal battles, and yet resilient enough to do it all alone. She was also real and wasn’t devoid of faults, presented with warts and all. True, she flipped on hearing that her favourite son had kept a life-altering secret from her, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t let go of her anger at the end to accept and embrace him like she always had.

Shero

Najma Malik in Secret Superstar

Played by: Meher Vij

Unflappable in the face of adversary. A picture of quiet strength. Daughter’s best friend and secret keeper. Najma in Secret Superstar exemplified the mother who was willing to brave all odds to see her daughter Insiya realise her dream of becoming a singer. And our hearts rejoiced in the end when Najma walked out on her abusive husband, holding bravely on to her children and with a resolute smile playing on her lips. Yes, her life — and her dreams — had just begun.

Gitanjali Rao in October

Resilient

Vidya Iyer in October

Played by: Gitanjali Rao

A mother watching the life of her 20-year-old daughter slowly ebbing away after a freak accident even as she is compelled to maintain a facade of strength and resilience. Shoojit Sircar’s October was a touching film about love, life and loss and all of it was mirrored beautifully by Gitanjali Rao. Gitanjali made Vidya the face of courage and fortitude and in the end, when she tells her young son to shake off his grief and go for his tuition classes, she’s the mother who doles out an important life lesson — of letting go and moving on.

Pal

Chanda Sahay in Nil Battey Sannata

Played by: Swara Bhasker

Sharing plates of chowmein to swapping notes after work. Swara’s Chanda was one cool mom to daughter Apu (Riya Shukla) in this heartwarming Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari directorial that explored the mother-daughter relationship. What was cooler? Chanda, a domestic help, enrolling in Apu’s class so that she could educate herself and teach her daughter in turn.

#TooCoolForSchool

Avenger

Devki Sabharwal in Mom

Played by: Sridevi

In Mom, Sridevi brought to life the character of a mother who will stop at nothing to exact revenge from those who had raped her teenaged stepdaughter. The eyes said it all, welling up with tears when she sees her daughter battling for life in the hospital or hardened with anger when she coolly goes about eliminating those who had wronged her family. And her presence in the film is best summed up by a key character when he says, “Bhagwan har jagah nahi hota hai. Isi liye toh usne maa banayi hai”.

Drama queen

Nimmo Sharma in Sui Dhaaga

Played by: Yamini Dass

More often than not, Bollywood moms are born drama queens, but none more than Nimmo Sharma in Sui Dhaaga. As Mauji’s (played by Varun Dhawan) mom, Nimmo was a hoot, especially in that scene where she passes out in the kitchen, but is still worried about whether the utensils have been washed and the buckets filled. And those moments towards the end where she proudly walks on the ramp wearing the creations painstakingly sewn by her son and daughter-in-law Mamta is #EmotionalGold.

Yamini Dass in a scene from Sui Dhaaga

Inspiring

Nargis Dutt in Sanju

Played by: Manisha Koirala

The role may not have been more than a special appearance, but much of Sanjay Dutt’s drive and destiny was shaped by his mother Nargis, played by Manisha Koirala in the Rajkumar Hirani-directed film. Her death may have pushed the young Dutt one more step towards a life of drug and drink, but it’s also her inspiring words — played out in an audiotape to the young Dutt — that gave him the strength to push forward. Kar har maidan fateh!

Sridevi in a scene from Mom

Neena Gupta in a scene from Badhaai Ho

Devoted

Priyamvada Kaushik in Badhaai Ho

Played by: Neena Gupta

More than its laugh-a-minute premise and its rooted storytelling, Badhaai Ho scored because it chose to focus on its middle-aged leads, primarily Neena Gupta’s Priyamvada, a mother of two in her late 40s who has an unplanned pregnancy and has to contend with the anger of her young sons and the snide remarks of relatives and neighbours. Priyamvada was the epitome of a dutiful mom, putting the interests of her family before herself, but she was also a strong mother who refused to bow down to the pressures of society. We loved that moment when she asked son Nakul (Ayushmann Khurrana), still angry with her over the pregnancy, “Beta, tu ne khana kha liya?” He reached out for a hug and a cry. Our eyes welled up too.

Ratna Pathak Shah in a scene from Kapoor & Sons

Rock solid

Rama Bhanot in Neerja

Played by: Shabana Azmi

We watched Neerja — the deeply moving story of real-life flight purser Neerja Bhanot who gave up her life in the line of duty — with a lump in our throats, but it was the final few minutes that truly brought on the tears. The final speech by Neerja’s mother Rama (played with tremendous feel and silent strength by Shabana Azmi) showed us a mother still reconciling to the untimely death of her daughter and yet immensely proud of her sacrifice. That speech had everything — from how we need to treat our daughters equal to our sons to celebrating our children… every day.

Shabana Azmi in a scene from Neerja

Manisha Koirala in a scene from Sanju

Meher Vij in a scene from Secret Superstar

Progressive

Kia’s mom in Ki & Ka

Played by: Swaroop Sampat

She was easily the coolest character in this well-meaning but overstuffed Balki film. Swaroop Sampat was the epitome of the cool mom — she shared a drink and discussed sex with her daughter Kia (Kareena Kapoor), didn’t poke her nose in her daughters’ marriage but was always open to giving pragmatic advice when sought. And yes, she was also the cool mom-in-law who expected her son-in-law to do all the cooking!

Swaroop Sampat in a scene from Ki & Ka