Maa is not a horror or horror comedy. It is a one-of-a-kind mythological horror flick. The film begins on a chilling note and keeps viewers invested in the proceedings. A crucial scene in the middle of the second half rocks big time and is easily the best part of the film. However, the film suffers due to faulty screenplay in some scenes, due to which there might be unintentional laughter in cinemas. The VFX is fine in some scenes and not so fine in many other places. The mythological and flashback bits can get confusing and a scene in the climax was avoidable. One wonders how it got approved. Kajol, as expected, delivers a fantastic performance. Ronit Roy is the surprise of the film. Kherin Sharma and Rupkatha Chakraborty (Deepika) leave a huge mark. Indraneil Sengupta is lovable in a supporting role. Jitin Gulati (Shekhar) does well but is let down by the writing. Gopal Singh (Bikash), Dibyendu Bhattacharya (Bimal) and Surajasikha Das (Nandini) do very well in supporting roles. Aashit Chatterjee (Shuvankar’s father), Vibha Rani (Purohita; old) and Yaaneaa Bharadwaj (Purohita; young) are memorable. All in all, Maa works due to the genre and concept but suffers on account of the writing and VFX. An average fare.
My rating – ** ยฝ out of 5!