Then there is the way the new Maa Behen trailer is put together: it is unapologetically chaotic. You have Madhuri and Triptii in a tangle of a relationship that is as much a cover-up as it is a family affair, and with Dharna Durga in the mix, it is all set for your screen on June 4.
Talk of the town right now is the tone. One moment it is lighthearted, the next it has an edge, and before you know it, things are a mess. People are saying the trailer is well made and fun to watch, and putting these two together was no doubt a shrewd call.
What you get out of the trailer
There is one scene in particular that stands out. It is night and Madhuri’s Rekha is in a fluster, dragging her daughters out of bed because they have a problem in the house. Their neighbour Gupta Ji (Ravi Kishan) has been found dead and in their part of town, where everyone has an opinion, you feel like you are being hemmed in.
Outside, the pressure is on. Geetanjali Kulkarni as Gupta Ji’s wife is after some straight talk, and Arunoday Singh’s cop is not making it easy. In the house, the women are having to put up with their own nerves and some bickering, all while trying to make sure no one in the mohalla gets wind of it.
Home life is hard, and the neighbours are watching
Even before the body is in the picture, the home front is not exactly solid. Rekha is at Jaya (Triptii) for going and selling her trinkets, and Jaya is quick to point out that her mother has been up to no good with men even if she has been a widow for a long time. And then there is the way Gupta Ji has been looking at Rekha.
The dialogue in the trailer is no-nonsense. ‘If you don’t have faith in your mother, go through my phone,’ Rekha tells her. To which Jaya says, ‘Don’t put trust in the equation, Mummy. Not even if the goddess of truth put in a word for you would I be able to do it.’
It only gets more of a back-and-forth when Rekha puts in, ‘Your father was taken from me by an electric shock when I was 25. I have been on my own since.’ Jaya doesn’t let it go: ‘On your own? Then who is Sushma?’ It is a bit mean, a lot of fun, and it makes for some good TV.
On the actors and their parts
Madhuri is in fine form. ‘Rekha is not the kind of mother you are used to in Hindi films, and that is what I liked about her. It is a treat to put in the work for a role that has some heft to it and makes the audience think twice,’ she says.
For Triptii, Jaya is the good girl of the house but with a spine. ‘She is the ghar ki sushil beti, but she knows what is right. She is always on top of the mayhem, and then you find she is in the middle of it. And to be in a room with Madhuri is something else entirely.’
The people making Maa Behen
Suresh Triveni is the man behind the camera for this blend of family and crime, from Abundantia and Opening Image Films. Dharna Durga is in it as the other daughter, Sushma, to ruffle some feathers. You will also see Shardul Bharadwaj, Ravi Kishan, Geetanjali and Arunoday in the cast.
Some might see a little of Govinda Naam Mera or Darlings in the vibe of the thing, but the focus on the mother and daughter is its own. The tagline could be: we have a secret, we have a hunch, and we have a corpse. Maa Behen is on Netflix from June 4.
A few things to note before you press play
Here is the short version:
– A cover-up with a dark sense of humour
– Madhuri as a mother with a twist
– Some sisterly trouble courtesy of Triptii and Dharna
– On your screen June 4 via Netflix
We will have to wait and see if the movie can hold up once the comedy wears off and the deceptions start to close in. But for the time being, Maa Behen seems ready to make a nuisance of a neighbourhood into a hot spot, with three women and one big secret to keep under wraps.
