Mimtaz
The Madhuri Dixit-starrer OTT movie – streaming on Amazon Prime Video – is Baghban 2.0 that needed more maja.
Watch Full Maja Ma Review:
Director: Anand Tiwari
Cast: Madhuri Dixit, Gajraj Rao, Ritwik Bhowmik, Barkha Singh, Srishti Shrivastava, Sheeba Chadha, Rajit Kapoor and Simone Singh
Rating: 2.5/5
Runtime: 2 Hours 15 Minutes
Storyline:
Pallavi Patel (played by Madhuri Dixit) is the quintessential, middle aged, devoted housewife who is married to Manohar Patel (played by Gajraj Rao). She is equally famous for her garba dance as she is for her cooking. According to her son Tejas Patel (played by Ritwik Bhowmik), Pallavi is a perfect goddess. Pallavi-Manohar’s daughter, Tara Patel (played by Srishti Shrivastava), is a heterosexual LGBTQIA+ activist who has a long-distance relationship with her husband.
The movie opens with Tejas, who is pursuing his career in the US, preparing to impress the parents of his ladylove Esha Hansraj (played by Barkha Singh). Esha’s ‘millionaire’ parents Bob and Pam Hansraj (played by Rajit Kapoor & Sheeba Chaddha) fear that Tejas wants to marry their daughter because of her wealth. Despite their doubts and hesitation, they accept Esha-Tejas’s relationship as the latter passes a lie-detector test. They fly down to Ahmedabad during Navaratri to make sure that Tejas comes from a respectable family, followed by their engagement.
Pallavi’s happy life turns upside down when a rumor about her – spoiler ahead: Pallavi’s dark past about being a lesbian – threatens to disrupt her middle-class family’s ethos, on the eve of her son Tejas’s engagement with a rich, NRI girl. What happens next is the rest of the story.
What Do We Think?
Maja Ma juggles to live in a modern and orthodox world at the same time. The movie works in parts, doesn’t in some. Writer Sumit Batheja and director Anand Tiwari tried to give an unique approach to the story of a lesbian who comes out to her family 30 years into her marriage. Without any below-the-belt jokes and being too dramatic, the dialogues are on point. Madhuri’s performance is good to watch, however, it’s definitely not one of her bests.
Gajraj Rao tries to hit the ball out of the park. He faces some hits and some misses while riding this roller coaster ride of drama & humour. Ritwik – who played the male lead in Anand Tiwari’s series, Bandish Bandits – delivers a more than adequate performance. His nokjhoks with his onscreen sister Srishti are relatable to every brother-sister duo out there. Barkha and Srishti lend decent support to the overall story.
Simone Singh is a surprise packet in this movie. Kanchan (played by Simone Singh) – Pallavi’s ex-flame – Pallavi and Pam’s outburst scene is clapworthy.
The fake American accent of the NRI Hansrajs is a torture to your ears. Sheeba and Rajit are entertaining but the script failed to do justice to them.
Hit Or Miss?
Maja Ma deals with an important social message and we feel that it is worth a one-time-watch. If you are feeling too lazy to go out and have nothing to do this weekend, you can add this to your weekend watchlist. The cast makes Maja Ma a watchable affair.
