Maja Ma — Understanding what she wants
I didn’t watch a movie for seven days straight, so I had to return to watching movies! I opened the list where I noted the recommendations by friends; the first was Maja Ma.
Though I didn’t know anything about the film, with the poster, I assumed it to be a feel-good, light-hearted family entertainer.
I’ll try writing this blog post without revealing any spoilers; just try. Can’t be sure if I spill something ;)
Except for Madhuri Dixit, I wasn’t aware of who had worked on the movie. The power was off, and I started watching it on my mobile. After 5 mins, I stopped watching it on the mobile since it needs a laptop at least :)
I started watching the movie with no idea about the plot and not anticipating anyone except Madhuri. It has an interesting premise, starting with Ritwik’s love track.
And… the unexpected confession comes from Madhuri while having a confrontation talk with her daughter. And this conversation gets accidentally recorded in a phone, which gets viral… wait, no, people make it viral deliberately.
Apart from the story and how it unfolds, I wondered about these questions throughout the movie and thought if someone had asked Madhuri this:
“What does she genuinely want? What brings her happiness? What is her identity?”
Wives in orthodox Indian families follow every other tradition and ritual for the prosperity of the whole family, but does the family ask her what she wants? Like really?
Aside from everything the movie offers, it has a couple of crucial moments that can just be witnessed and felt. The way Srishti responds to Sheeba when the latter asks whether Srishti is on her period, the conversation between Gajraj Rao and Madhuri at the climax, the women’s discussion while they are on a ropeway and the test (watch it to know which test it is), to name a few.
I don’t remember watching any of Madhuri Dixit’s movies until now, not even Devdas (except for the Dola Re Dola song). Such a dedicated actor with a rich screen presence!
I was expecting a mediocre just-another-family entertainer, but it is much more! Truly impressed. Every actor performed well to give us a memorable film to watch, feel, think about, and reflect upon to ask, “Do we accept ourselves the way we are?”
On a lighter note, I enjoyed watching this actor in two movies: Maja Ma and A Gentleman. In both movies, he has a beautiful daughter and travels from the USA to India in the former and India to the USA in the latter to find a grounded, traditional boy for alliance!
