Legendary directors Wim Umboh and Sjumandjaja, decided to experiment by producing a script being written at the same time of the shooting. Mama is a complex story with two seemingly unrelated narrative threads. The first story revolves around Sanca and Anani. The second is about Ulli and Pandji, and in between the two stories is a third narrative, about Ulla, a religious prostitute and Ulli’s sister, and Suwaka.
Three thugs rape a young woman named Yayah in a shack. Immediately afterward, she gets raped by her own boyfriend who's aroused by her naked body. And then her mom dies. And then she loses her job. And then she finds out she's pregnant by one of her rapists. Needless to say, Yayah loses it, goes on a rampage and then has to be put down. However, her vengeful spirit lives on.
When their children fail to come home, their parents start to worry. Due to their own neglect and unfulfilled promises, the children, Maria and Suzy, are getting some help from an old man, their former teacher, to go to the zoo and other entertainment centers by themselves. When the police are called, the kids are quickly found and returned to the parents, but the teacher is so heavily shaken by this experience that he admits himself to a mental asylum.
Two sisters, Hanifah and Latifah/Ipah have different attitudes toward life in Jakarta. While Hanifah is content working as a teacher, Ipah, who works as a shopkeeper, is obsessed with living a high life. She leaves her boyfriend, Adi, feeling that her sister’s way of thinking is too conservative, and changes her name to Eva. Eva then becomes a runway model and gets famous. She has an affair with an older man named Abas, gets pregnant, has an abortion and becomes a high class prostitute. Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend, Adi, has an affair with Lily, Abas’ wife. One day, she meets again with Adi who is looking for a prostitute for his friend. Offended, Eva stabs Adi. She is then sentenced to 18 years in prison. Her father and her sister, Hanifah, come to the court and give her a mukena (a kind of hijab used by female Muslims for praying) before she goes to prison.
Rainang tries to terrorize a corrupt village leader, Ciming, so that he would resign. But Marsan accidentally kills Ciming. As team leader, Rainang is willing to take responsibility (punishment by exile) while Marsan is appointed as the new village leader and Rausin (Rainang’s son) is sent to the Islamic boarding school. When Rausin returns to Kemayoran, the village leader, Marsan, is now a corrupt man. The Dutch reprimand him as the villagers no longer want to sell rice to them. The village leader then assigns Beureum, an assassin, to get rid of Rausin. But Toha and Cicih, the female warrior, support him. Rainang, who is thought to have passed away, appears and intervenes, and in the end, kills Marsan.
Hamsah is always preoccupied with his business while his wife is busy with her social life. Their daughters; Tuti and Lina, are neglected by them. Lina suffers the most as she is paralyzed, and the doctor does not think that she will improve. So a private teacher is hired for Lina, a university student named Arman. They get along well as Arman is also suffering from the loss of his mother and sister, who died during the revolution. The seeds of love begin to grow, but it happens that Tuti likes him too. Then Arman resolves problem by reuniting Tuti with her ex-boyfriend, Anwar. In the end, Hamzah and his wife realise their mistakes, while Lina and Arman find their “private palace.”
Kusumo lives happily with his wife and his two kids; Tati and Toto, in Surabaya. Their happiness is interrupted when Kusumo meets Maryati; a widow from Yogya. They meet when she falls victim to some pickpockets when she is shopping. They decide to marry and Kusumo leaves his family, without telling them anything. Sulaiman; a friend of Kusumo, brings him back to his senses and succeeds in persuading Kusumo to return to Surabaya. On the way, Kusumo crashes his car. When his first wife visits him in hospital, he asks for forgiveness before he dies.
