Anand Math (1952)

Bengal is starving, and the British and their tax collectors show no mercy. A brotherhood of sannyasis, warrior monks devoted to the motherland, takes up arms against the Company, and the film follows its leader, its recruits and the women who join the struggle, among them a fearless young wife who disguises herself to fight alongside her husband. Anand Math is based on Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1882 Bengali novel, the source of the song Vande Mataram, which later became India's national song. In the film it is sung by Lata Mangeshkar to Hemant Kumar's music, and this version is among the best-known recordings.