Maa movie review: Spook me more, ma!

Maa
U/A: Fantasy, horror, mythology
Dir: Vishal Furia
Cast: Kajol, Ronit Roy
Rating: ***

Just look at some of the lighting, craft, production design, and shadow play  — Maa embodies competent filmmaking, almost all the way. 

To the extent that you could even deem this a 134-minutes excuse for placing all available VFX (visual effect) chops on display. 

Now, the whole point of VFX is that it should not look like it. Especially when dealing with creepers/creatures. In that sense, surely, some of the portions are kinda crappy in comparison to the others. 

But the blocks that work, draw you in enough to marvel at, say, the undisclosed villain transforming into a devil/doityo; or even the classic establishing/POV shots of the torchlight into darkness, or the jungle through a cave. 

It helps that actor Ajay Devgn — like the others, credited here with his mom’s name (Veena) for his middle name — owns a National Award winning VFX studio. 

This film — in effect an immediate extension of what they’ve termed a cinematic universe, starting with Shaitaan (2024) — is Devgn’s home production. Kajol plays the lead, albeit emoting in a slightly Bollywood sorta way. 

Roughly speaking, this is a vampire-like supernatural story of a haunted village, where young girls, upon reaching puberty, go missing; only to return with blood of the devil running through their veins, or some such. 

Of course, there is a touch of mythology in it. Firstly, I don’t understand why Bengal in India has West prefixed to it. It’s not like an East Bengal, besides a football team, exists. And Bangladesh is a nation of its own. 

Randomly ruminating to let you know that this film, set in Bengal, i.e. a fictional hamlet Chandrapur, could’ve well been in Bengali. 

As is most of the cast. Situating it so specifically, from the Kaali Puja to the Sindoor Khela, I suspect, gives the screenplay (by Saiwyn Quadras) that slight edge. 

For, who’s Maa, if not Maa Kaali; and who’s the devil, but Rakht Beej? What do I know of this Hindu fable/mythology, more so revered in Bengal? 

Precious little, besides that Rakht Beej (Blood Seed) was asura/demon with a vardaan/boon that every drop of his blood touching soil would give rise to his clone, rendering him indestructible after all. 

To fight this evil, Maa Kali, an avatar of Goddess Durga, spread her tongue across the battlefield, licking off every drop of Rakht Beej’s blood, before it hit the ground. Which explains Maa Kaali’s blood-red tongue spreading wide. 

Frankly, you don’t really need this context, in order to watch the film for its own sake.

That is, a middle-aged man (Indraneil Sengupta) — who’s cut off ties with his village, struck by the never-ending cycle of destruction — revisits his massive, 30-bedroom, haunted raaj-baari/mansion/haveli, since his father’s no more, and he’d rather sell that house.

He instantly loses his life instead. His widow (Kajol) and young daughter return to seal that real-estate deal, getting spooked out by the second. 

They don’t rush back to Kolkata, knowing what’s happened, and what’s going on still. You and I would have. But then, there would be no movie; no?

I actually watched a fair bit of this film, editing it in my own head. As in, what if that haveli’s old caretaker (Dibyendu Bhattacharya) got reintroduced, straightaway, with a jump-scare shot, which happens only later. 

Or, why not add at least another scene to show grief on the wife and daughter, who’ve just lost their most loved one; before figuring out ancestral property, and all that’s around it? 

The bit to keep is, of course, Ronit Roy, 59, on a rare occasion, actually playing a Bengali man; fit as a fiddle, getting finer with age. The rest of the lot feel kinda cold/thanda, matlab Coca Cola, with zero fizz.

Which has everything to do with the story that hardly ever unravels. You get what you see, and you see pretty much the same thing, all through. 

It’s to the full credit of the director, Vishal Furia, who keeps you engaged with screen-craft alone. I’m told, he’s a bit of a desi Robert Eggers kinda strong-hand with the paranormal: Lapachhapi (2017), Chhorii I & II (2021, ’25), etc.

Nope, haven’t caught those movies. I did watch Devgn’s production Shaitaan, with Madhavan as devil incarnate, that this is supposedly a franchise film of. Didn’t think much of that one, either. It was a sleeper hit, alright. 

As have been several pictures in the horror genre since the pandemic, in particular — Stree 2, Munjya, Bhediya, etc — when footfalls in theatres for other films have fallen considerably.  I think quality-horror itself — so low on ambition (momentary, base-level fear), hence unpretentious, usually — makes for a perfect date-night at the cinemas still. 

For one, broadly speaking, there is no second screen. You’re less likely to turn to your phone, mostly in anticipation of the scary stuff. That’s what you paid for. 

Wish there were more spooky moments in Maa then. At least one jump-scare? That said, my eyes never left the big screen. That’s saying a lot as it is.

*YUCK  **WHATEVER  ***GOOD  ****SUPER  *****AWESOME

Source