Maa Behen

Can you really, truly ruin a perfectly interesting ensemble and the kernel of an idea that could have blown up into a fully feminist fun film, by not knowing quite how to build on it? Maa Behen, bearing a title which cheekily wants to subvert that familiar invective prevalent in much of North India, in whose fictional town this film is set, gets lost in flabby, confused writing. And yet again, you wonder how films which squander their potential, and a great cast — apart from Madhuri Dixit-Tripti Dimri-Dharna Durga, this has the terrific Geetanjali Kulkarni and Shardul Bhardwaj among others — keep rolling out. 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 flirtatious jeejas flirting with uncaring saalis, and sundry other men who are either clueless or indifferent.

As a society, when we can’t put women in a box, we often use a predictable and largely over-used term to describe them — messy. The word, somehow, acts as an all-encompassing crutch to encapsulate everything about these women that we can’t put a finger on. In small-town India (though that may be a limiting demographic to cite on our part), a woman who not only refuses to be helpless, fragile or vulnerable, but also cocks a snook at so-called community norms is often branded a “daayan”. That is the description that Rekha has had to live with all her life. A sensation among her (male) neighbours ever since she stepped into Adarsh Colony as a young bride, Rekha’s sleeveless blouses, come-hither looks and bold walk and talk (read: the desire to be a single, independent woman who derides judgment and doesn’t feel the need to explain herself or her actions) has given rise to loose talk, unfounded suspicion and strong rumours that she not only preys on men sexually, but also makes quick work of them, the urban legend being that their skeletons are stashed beneath the bed of marigolds in her garden.

Set in the conservative north Indian Adarsh Colony, single and glamorous mother Rekha (Madhuri Dixit) makes a hysterical late-night phone call to her daughters, Jaya (Triptii Dimri) and Sushma (Dharna Durga), summoning them home after discovering the dead body of her nosy neighbour, Guptaji (Ravi Kishan), inside her house. Review: As the estranged and constantly bickering sisters reluctantly reunite with their seemingly reckless mother, the chaotic trio scrambles to figure out how to manage the crime scene. But there’s a twist lurking around the corner that none of them see coming. Director Suresh Triveni (Jalsa, Tumhari Sulu) uses humour layered with tragedy to hold up a mirror to a society that views women simply existing on their own with suspicion. The resemblance to actress Rekha and the long-standing gossip surrounding her personal life and marital status inevitably come to mind. How can women thrive without being subject to the watchful gaze of men? Society’s inability to process that question forms the heart of this sharply written story by Triveni and Pooja Tolani.

हमारे समाज में औरतों का चरित्र अक्सर उनके कपड़ों की साइज से तौला जाता है। जितने छोटे कपड़े, उतनी चरित्रहीन औरत। मर्दों को भी ऐसी औरतों के साथ कुछ भी करने-कहने का लाइसेंस मिल जाता है। आखिर कौन उनकी बात पर यकीन करेगा कि उनके साथ गलत हुआ? लोग तो यही कहेंगे ना कि इनके लक्षण ही ऐसे हैं, उसने खुद ही उकसाया होगा, फंसाया होगा। डायरेक्टर सुरेश त्रिवेणी की फिल्म ‘मां बहन’ समाज के इसी संकुचित सोच पर मनोरंजन की भारी-भरकम पोटली से जोरदार प्रहार की कोशिश करती है। फिल्‍म सीधे OTT प्‍लेटफॉर्म Netflix पर गुरुवार, 04 जून 2026 को रिलीज हुई है। फिल्‍म की कहानी के केंद्र में है आदर्श कॉलोनी की एक हॉट सिंगल मां रेखा (माधुरी दीक्षित) और उसकी दो बेटियां जया (तृप्ति डिमरी) और सुषमा (धारणा दुर्गा)। स्लीवलेस ब्लाउज पहनने वाली रेखा की खुद की बेटी भी उस पर उंगली उठाती है, मोहल्ले वालों का खैर कहना ही क्या! बला की खूबसूरत रेखा जब पहली बार स्लीवलेस ब्लाउज पहने अपने पति के साथ इस मोहल्ले में दाखिल हुई थी, तभी से सब उसे करैक्टर सर्टिफिकेट बांटने लगे थे। फिर पति के मौत के बाद तो अफवाहें यहां तक फैली कि खुद उसी ने अपने पति को मारकर अपने गेंदे के फूलों के नीचे गाड़ दिया है।

A body lies face down on the floor. The named-after-Nirma-ad trio, mother Rekha (Madhuri Dixit) and daughters Jaya (Triptii Dimri) and Sushma (Dharna Durga) look on, contemplating the next step. The options are limited. Hide it in the house? Throw it into the canal? Confess to the cops? Rekha breaks the silence: “Should I make some tea first?” she asks. It’s a family decision after all, has to be made over a piping hot cuppa.