Maa Behen movie review: Madhuri Dixit, Tripti Dimri’s fun film ruined by flabby writing

Remember these names from the famous Nirma ad? Ma Rekha (Madhuri Dixit) with her two wildly different daughters, Jaya (Tripti Dimri) and Sushma (Dharna Durga), is the fulcrum, around which revolve patriarchal fathers-in-law who can’t make tea for themselves, entitled brothers-in-law who demand fresh rotis hot off the tawa, careless husbands (Shardul Bharadwaj) who double up as licentious jeejas flirting with uncaring saalis, and sundry other men who are either clueless or indifferent.

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The setting of a mohalla where everyone minds everyone else’s business is not new, but when Rekha, resplendent in her sleeveless cholis comes riding in behind newly-acquired husband (Jatin Sarna), you sit up. A bulked up neighbour (Ravi Kishen), who lives across the street with his long-suffering wife (Geetanjali Kulkarni) and two adult kids, is suspiciously disinterested in the new arrival.

A bloody body in a kitchen. A laapata gent. Wedding festivities underway. The hint of a re-kindled romance. The addiction to making reels. A small town and its cruel judgemental whispers. And a woman who wears her sleeveless blouses with pride. So many ideas jostling for space, but so few landing: hard to believe that this comes from the director of Tumhari Sullu and Jalsa.

This had the potential to be a cracker Manohar Kahaniya bhaabhi-gar-par-hain-style comedy, its darker edges being used to show men their place. And who better than Madhuri, whose fine comic bone Hindi cinema has never exploited fully, to front a spicy, pulpy flick which could have revealed the real choli-ke-peecche woman, fully and completely herself.

But it takes almost till the last quarter for the actual film to kick in, during which Dimri gets a breakout scene in which she dresses down her useless spouse (Bhardwaj is a hoot). Dharna shows just how talented she is in the brief flashes she gets, but, like the rest of the cast, is wasted in playing a type rather than a character.

Someone will make a film that will give Madhuri, ripe for a role in which she can play to her strengths, her due. Sadly, Maa Behen is not that film.

Maa Behen movie cast: Madhuri Dixit, Tripti Dimri, Dharna Durga, Paresh Rawal, Ravi Kishen, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Arunoday Singh, Shardul Bhardwaj, Jatin Sarna
Maa Behen movie director: Suresh Triveni
Maa Behen movie rating: 1.5 stars