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Leo Media Collective’s Maja Ma is the story of a middle-class family. Pallavi (Madhuri Dixit) lives with her husband, Manohar (Gajraj Rao). She has a son, Tejas, also known as Jas (Ritwik Bhowmik), and a daughter, Tara (Srishti Srivastava), who is married. Their life turns upside down when a video, in which Pallavi says that she is a lesbian, goes viral. This happens just when Jas is to be married to a rich NRI girl, Esha (Barkha Singh). Will Esha’s eccentric and image-conscious parents (Sheeba Chadha and Rajit Kapur) allow the marriage to take place?
Sumit Batheja has written a very bold story about a lesbian mother. In spite of the story tackling the hitherto taboo topic, it does not get embarrassing for the audience. The viewers may agree or disagree with Batheja’s screenplay but they can’t turn a blind eye to it. In fact, the drama would make them think. The sensitive plot is written with such finesse that even if such a topic does not interest the viewer, he is not likely to feel repulsed by it. There are several other characters in the drama, besides the members of the two families. The good part is that the actions of each character are right from his/her viewpoint, because of which the viewers do not feel disconnected. Also, Sumit Batheja has done the fullest justice to every character. Two scenes which would’ve drawn applause had the film released in the cinemas are the one in which Pallavi’s friend, Kanchan (Simone Singh), gives a piece of her mind to Esha’s mother (Sheeba Chadha), and the one in which Esha’s mom gives her husband (Rajit Kapur) a piece of her mind. Both the scenes are beautifully penned. The lie detection test of Pallavi is another highlight sequence. The screenplay is so beautifully written that the unfolding drama holds the audience’s attention right from the word ‘go’. Sumit Batheja’s dialogues are very realistic and some of them hit the audiences hard.
Madhuri Dixit does a very fine job as Pallavi. She deserves kudos for accepting the challenging role and doing justice to it. Gajraj Rao is natural as Manohar. He wins the viewers’ hearts in the climax. Ritwik Bhowmik is wonderful as Tejas/Jas. His performance is mature. Barkha Singh looks pretty and acts ably in the role of Esha. Simone Singh shines as Kanchan. Her acting is excellent. Sheeba Chadha is outstanding as Esha’s mother. Rajit Kapur leaves a superb mark as Esha’s vain father. Srishti Srivastava lends good support as Tara. Ninad Kamat has his moments. Malhar Thakar (as Pinakin), Kevin Dave (as Viral), Rohit Kumar and Raj Parikh (both as Viral’s friends), Ivanka Das (as Komal), Shruta Rawat (as Sanjana), J. Brandon Hill (as John), Shridhar Watsar (as the chemist), Hetal Gala (as the woman at the chemist shop) and the others are very natural. Others provide decent support.
Anand Tiwari’s direction deserves distinction marks. His narration of the bold subject has the right amount of sensitivity. Had it not been sensitively handled, the film could have become a parody. Music (Gourov Dasgupta, Soumil Sringarpure, Siddharth Mahadevan, Anurag Sharma and The Yellow Diary) is nothing to shout about. Lyrics (Anurag Sharma, Priya Saraiya and Rajan Batra) are quite nice. Choreography (Kruti Mahesh and Piyush-Shazia) is fair. Soumil Sringarpure’s background music complements the proceedings beautifully. Debojeet Ray’s camerawork is unobtrusive. Laxmi Keluskar’s production designing is appropriate. Sanyukta Kaza’s editing is crisp.
On the whole, the modern and bold Maja Ma is entertaining and prompts the viewer to think. It makes for good viewing.
Released on 6-10-’22 on Amazon Prime Video.