Maa review: Kajol takes on the daitya in a mythological horror tale that forgets to be scary

Maa story:

Maa explores the terrifying legend of a daitya (demon) who haunts the soil of the made-up village of Chandrapur and demands the sacrifice of young girls. Ambika, played by Kajol, takes her daughter Shweta, played by Kherin Sharma, back to her husband Shuvankar's (Indraneil Sengupta) hometown after his strange and supernatural death. What starts off as a search for answers becomes a terrifying ordeal when the mother and daughter become caught up in a curse that has been passed down through generations.

Maa review:

I have always been scared of horror movies and no matter what, they end up giving me sleepless nights. So, watching Maa has definitely been a challenge thanks to the occupational hazard I am in. However, what began as a fear of sitting in a dark room and confronting the horror while covering my face with my hands ultimately evolved into something even more horrifying and challenging to endure. What was it? Here we go...

Maa begins with the incident from 40 years ago, where a woman gives birth to a boy and a girl. While the village hails the birth of the son, the girl child is immediately taken by a woman near to an eerie tree, leaving the mother in turmoil, and the baby is killed instantly in the presence of her father and the villagers. Then we see that the soil beneath is filled with the remains of several female babies, whose wailing haunts the area. 

ALSO READ: Maa OTT partner revealed! Here's where you can watch Kajol's mythological horror film after its theatrical run

In no time, we are taken to the current times, when Ambika (Kajol) gives a lesson in Hindu mythology to a bunch of children about the story of Mahakali vs. Raktabeej. This also suggests that Maa is progressing towards the same story. Then we see that Shuvankar (Indraneil Sengupta), while returning from his hometown after his father's funeral, gets killed by a mysterious figure, leaving his family in utter shock. But the story doesn't stop there; the Sarpanch of the village, played by Ronit Roy, calls Ambika to Chandrapur to sell the ancestral property. 

Now the story begins, with Ambika and her daughter Shweta already coming to terms with the death of Shuvankar, who went to the village that consumed him. Moreover, Ambika wants to protect her daughter from a family that has been killing female children in the name of sacrifice for generations.

Vishal Furia, who has been known for supernatural horror films, has directed the film after his recent release, Chhorii 2, on Prime Video. Well, it doesn't come as a surprise when it comes to the filmmaker's tropes and how the story goes about it. Although Maa is a mythological horror where the presence of divine strength makes it less scary, so to me, I don't have to pray to God constantly to save me from getting scared. 

Saiwyn Quadras penned the screenplay for the film, which has all possible elements that make it an intriguing watch. But where does Maa falter and that too, miserably, where it becomes tough to get back?

Well, first things first, why is there always a kid who is so curious that there's no brim of fear when they see something creepy? All horror films ensure that for a child to become the ultimate victim, they must do something foolish, which is portrayed as the punishment they deserve. 

To be honest, I felt like that kid while watching the movie. I was anticipating scary jump scares and horrifying moments, which would give me sleepless nights. But here I felt like I was made to sit through a film like a punishment, which was neither scaring me nor even intriguing me to get sucked into the story. 

With two hours and 15 minutes of runtime, Maa takes its sweet time to prepare you for the ultimate battle between a mother's rage and the demonic curse that has been haunting the village for years. However, while doing so, it's just the camera panning here and there with a background score trying to make it scary, but when it's supposed to land on a horrifying moment, I had a jump scare on the screen waiting to scare me.

To be honest, even the CGI figure of a tree being the demon and taking away the girl children feels so much like a caricature that it just makes it laughable. There are so many moments in the film where I was hoping that the characters would get scared living in a house that's almost haunted or just a stone's throw away from a tree where the demon resides. The people living in that house have accepted their fate, which is understandable; however, Ambika and Shweta refuse to be scared and do not seem alert even when danger is just around the corner. 

In one of the scenes, Shweta is seen being taken by the demon by dragging her hair, and all Ambika does is stand there and stare in shock and react when her daughter is out of sight. Then, she tries to protect her child somehow and sees there's a dead body lying in the house. With no reaction to that, Ambika and Shweta pack their bags and try to run away from there, all while not losing their calm much.

The response to the situation feels so incomplete that it seems like the characters are deceptive and hoping that the viewers will accept it no matter what.

Well, if you see the star cast, there's, of course, Kajol shouldering the film as it was meant to be. But why would you have Ronit Roy in the role of a Sarpanch, given the work he has been doing? Yes, it's not a tough nut to crack on what's in store for his role and what he is going to offer ultimately. 

But the suspense is spoon-fed so easily that the element of surprise is nowhere to be seen, which is the recurring theme of the film. Yes, the story of God vs. evil has been witnessed in so many films where humans become the catalyst to do so. 

However, in a family where a girl child has been killed because they believe that's what Mahakali expects, how did no woman ever fight back? While such thoughts may arise, I believe the film boldly reveals the harsh reality that men have harboured hatred for women since birth and often fail to recognise their worth. 

In one of the scenes, when a woman refuses to kill a baby girl, a man steps in and says that it's his job, as women are good for nothing. Well, that's true, as men show no empathy for women and they deserve to be slashed to pieces when their need is over. Anyway, that's a never-ending discussion, because the crime against women won't stop anytime soon.

Coming back to Maa, all said and done, going by the theme, which Furia has shown in his movies from "Lapachhapi" to Chhorii 2, the film deals with female infanticide but with a mythological backdrop. However, although they try to bring all elements together, nothing works in the film's favour—from the storyline to the obnoxious CGI.

I also felt that the actors didn't feel comfortable imagining horrific things and reacting accordingly. But if a tree that has a beak and tries to be a Vecna, it's more of a prompt given to ChatGPT while describing a demon and failing to make it look like that in reality.

In such movies, songs play no part, yet there's one just before the climax, which makes it unwarranted. If the song had only played in the background, it would have made a little more sense.

Maa takes you on a journey that's absurd only because of the mere execution of the story that had so much scope while getting it on the screen. Kajol, to be honest, is the saving grace of the film when she is on an individual journey. There's subtlety in her act and she doesn't go over the top unnecessarily.

The same can't be said about the rest of the cast, so let's not delve into that.

This horror has been a horror for not making it horror enough for you to leave on the edge of your seat or watch the movies while covering your face with your fingers.

Maa verdict:

Maa may have been rooted in the soil of mythology and horror, but what grows out of it is less a chilling tree of terror and more a paper-mâché prop with wilting scares. Despite Kajol’s grounded performance, the film gets lost in its own fog, fumbling its divine vs. daitya duel with lazy CGI and lukewarm frights.