Maja Ma Review - Madhuri Dixit's Festive-Entertainer Is A Complete Shocker, Bold Feminist Drama For The Families

The Maja Ma trailer shows you Madhuri Dixit, Gajraj Rao, and other family members in a complete festive-entertainer, but is that the real picture? Well, let me warn you, it is not. Maja Ma has come out as a complete shocker for me, not just as a bold feminist drama but also in many ways that consider male ego, family bonds, relationships, and society. Just like everyone, I was expecting this to be a time-pass flick with some good dance numbers, festival vibes, romance, drama and emotions, but it just came like a bouncer and hit my head. Instead of injury, it left my head with some good thoughts on the taboo subjects that could destroy the entire family. It's not the Maja-Ma-type of a film, but a content-driven attempt too. Anand Tiwari gets his first winner as a director, that too while handling such a tough subject and a huge star cast (for the first time).Pallavi Patel (Madhuri Dixit) is a popular name in Gujarati society, and her husband, Manohar Patel (Gajraj Rao), is too proud to have her as his life partner. Mr. & Mrs. Patel have a son, Tejas (Ritwik Bhowmik), who works in the US, and a daughter, Tara (Srishti Srivastava), who is acquiring a PhD in LGBTQIA. Tejas plans to marry his lover, Esha (Barkha Singh), a daughter of a rich couple, Mr. & Mrs. Hansraj (Rajit Kapur and Sheeba Chaddha). The Hansraj family meets the Patel family to confirm the wedding with their regular procedures, which are too peculiar, but then suddenly a rumour about Pallavi's identity sabotages everything. Will Pallavi be able to stand against the negativity and find her own identity? Will she manage to convince the Hansrajs for the wedding? Maja Ma takes you through a dramatic ride while answering these questions.Written by Sumit Batheja, Maja Ma is a very gutsy film, considering that you are trying to break a taboo in an audience-friendly genre like "Family-Comedy-Drama". Sumit takes up an interesting challenge to deliver a worthy flick for the family audience, who usually miss the taboo content in mainstream family entertainers and try to put the new, thought-provoking ideas into their heads. While doing so, he fails to keep the flow of comedy intact, but thankfully never loses the grip on his main context. Yes, it's a little predictable film once you are acquainted with the shocking plot, but then you never get over its sensationalism until it reaches its climax. A little bit of extra comedy, with no adult jokes, would have helped, but let's just forgive that one mistake.Madhuri Dixit has got a powerful role Maja Ma – something that's not too dark or intense, yet hard-hitting. Her fans are in for a treat, and I believe they will remember this performance and character for some time. Gajraj Rao is excelling like a rainbow in every film. In every film, he shows you a different colour of his acting skills and wows you. Maja Ma couldn't be a miss! The young brigade, Ritwik, Barkha and Srishti, have got good roles, despite the fact that they were up in front of senior actors. Sheeba Chaddha and Rajit Kapur are a little irritating, especially with their American accents. It looks so damn fake. Couldn't believe that I had to see Sheeba Chaddha gambling with two different accents and none of them suiting her high-calibre. Rajit Sir was hateful sometimes, but his role was such, so I got my eyes on him for something that's relatable. Shocker is the word that perfectly describes Simone Singh in the film. The supporting cast is fine too, with no special mention to any single artist.Coming to the negative points of Maja Ma, one must understand that it's quite an annoying subject to watch with family. And it is releasing on a home platform, so you have to make special arrangements to view it. Well, that didn't bother me much, as its predictability and stodgy storytelling did. We have to wait for that one scene to pass, when you already know what's gonna happen. The dialogues could have been smart and subtle. The OTT releases are not expected to have good music, but surprisingly, Maja Ma has got a fantastic music album. Anand Tiwari's direction is quite impressive and it seems that he has improved a lot from his previous flicks. Enough of short films and miniseries; he is now qualified to direct big feature films starring major actors. Hopefully, he will learn from the mistakes he made in Maja Ma and make his next film flawless. As a whole, Maja Ma delivers a strong message with a festive mood, but it has got all the tough vibes going too easy for it.