Translating to “mother sister,” the latest Netflix India film Maa Behen comes from director Suresh Triveni. It stars Bollywood icon Madhuri Dixit, Triptii Dimri, and content creator Dharna Durga.
MAA BEHEN: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The Gist: In a small Indian town, outspoken and liberal Rekha (Madhuri Dixit) “finds” a dead body belonging to her neighbor Gupta (Ravi Kishan) in her kitchen. She frantically calls her opposing daughters—Jaya (Triptii Dimri) who is caught in a dead-end marriage, and Sushma (Dharna Durga), a fledgling influencer—to help her deal with the situation before her conservative neighbors (including Gupta’s wife) find out. What ensues is a series of misunderstandings and comedic hijinks as they work to cover up the crime and learn to better understand each other.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of? The off-kilter humor and satirical bent is reminiscent of another Netflix India production, Darlings.
Performance Worth Watching: You probably came here for Madhuri Dixit, and for good reason: the legendary actress rarely misses. But her co-star Triptii Dimri is the one who steals the show, starting the film timidly before eventually finding her voice.
Sex And Skin: The film’s text depicts the townspeople as titillated by Dixit wearing sleeveless blouses, so you can probably guess how explicit it gets. (Not at all.)
Our Take: Dixit, Dimri, and Durga are a powerful trio to anchor this film, and Maa Behen is at its best when it mines their complicated dynamic. The women are at odds with both each other, and the closed-minded society that has painted Rekha’s freedom of expression as taboo. When they finally come together and admit their true feelings and hardships to one another, the film hums.
Triveni’s touch is extremely stylized, bordering on camp, and its effect doesn’t always fully land tonally. At times, there is narration that fills in background details, while other times the narrative proceeds without this complication. The result occasionally feels like whiplash, especially in a story where lore is the entire point.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Come for the crime caper, stay for this great trio of women.
Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a film and TV writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Vulture, Teen Vogue, ELLE, and more. She is the co-host of the podcast PromRad with fellow Decider contributor Proma Khosla. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.
