3.5 Stars (out of 4)
In Maa Behen, a mother and her adult daughters find themselves with a unique problem: how to hide a dead body from their nosy neighbors. The fun, well-acted comedy comes with some sophisticated commentary on the way rumors and reputation shape women’s lives.
Madhuri Dixit plays Rekha, the “maa” from the title. Widowed young, she raised two daughters on her own in a hostile neighborhood. Rekha’s beauty and penchant for wearing sleeveless blouses (gasp!) turned her into an object of lust for the local men and, thus, an object of scorn for the local women.
The film bucks the recent trend of using computer effects to “de-age” stars for flashbacks. Instead, when we’re shown Rekha’s arrival in the neighborhood as a 22-year-old, Dixit looks more or less the same as she does now in her late fifties. A narrator simply says that she hasn’t aged a day, as far as her looks go — a believable explanation given how gorgeous Dixit still is.
Rekha’s oldest daughter is Jaya (Triptii Dimri). She did everything the right way growing up. Her reward is to be trapped catering to the ceaseless appetites of her ungrateful husband Manas (Shardul Bhardwaj), her demanding father-in-law, and her three ravenous brothers-in-law.
Worse, Manas is a regular presence on the social media channels of Jaya’s wild younger half-sister, Sushma (Dharna Durga), an aspiring influencer. Sushma and Manas play up the notion that they might be having an affair, which may not be true but is insulting to Jaya nonetheless.
The girls get a frantic call from Rekha late one night: Mr. Gupta (Ravi Kishan), the neighbor from across the street, lies dead in her kitchen. Rekha says she invited him over to play cards, but he made a sexual advance at her. They tussled, and he fell and hit his head.
Rekha watches a true crime show called “Khalbali” every day, so she’s certain she knows how conceal Gupta’s death and prevent a scandal. They just need to dump his body in the canal the following night. The only problems are that the women can barely lift him, and Gupta’s family is having a huge party to celebrate his daughter’s engagement. Maybe they can just keep him hidden until the wedding is over.
Rekha’s reputation is paramount in the story. A married man visiting her at night and dying in her house would confirm every sordid thing the neighbors have ever said about her. Those rumors dogged Jaya and Sushma as well, who are assumed to be as sexually forward as their mother allegedly is.
Throughout Maa Behen, the audience sees flashbacks to various salacious events in the women’s lives. These are introduced and narrated by the host of the fictional show “Khalbali,” (played by Shrivardhan Trivedi). He’s there to show us what “everybody” knows to be true.
Of course, that’s only one side of the story. But even if Rekha, Jaya, or Sushma were to present an alternative version, would anyone believe them? Such is the power of rumor and the unequal weight given to men’s opinions by society. Whether or not a negative reputation is “deserved” doesn’t matter. Women pay the price regardless.
Director Suresh Triveni and writer Pooja Tolani brilliantly weave social commentary into the story without coming across as preachy. They created characters beset by rumors and simply let us watch how it affects their personalities and experiences. It’s a sign of respect for an audience that is too often condescended to.
Dixit, Dimri, and Durga are terrific as a family at odds with each other as often as they are with the world. It’s a credit to digital creator Durga for fitting in so well in her feature debut, as well as a testament to Dixit’s and Dimri’s generosity and experience for helping her to do so. The rest of the cast nicely fill out the world and contribute to making Maa Behen a really smart, enjoyable movie.
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