Horror films (this one’s a ‘mythological rror’ as its base is in popular Bengali mythology) not only need a certain scare quotient (this film lacks it completely, and so it was touted with great but misguided glee as a film censored U/A, the equivalent of a ‘Parental Guidance Suggested’ rating!) as well as a specific logic of their own amidst the fantasy element.
That, perhaps, should be all the more adhered to in a film with a folk legend at the base—the story of Goddess (Maa Kali) and the demon, Raktbeej, so named because he possessed a divine boon that granted him the ability to multiply whenever his blood spilled onto the ground. Maa Kali thus had to kill him by drinking all his blood before any drop fell on earth. The limited logic needed for this genre is also replaced by an audaciously template-driven second half.
In the film, we find that Raktbeej’s successor resides in a tree in the village of Chandrapur in Bengal, wanting to perpetuate his lineage by impregnating a girl in the village. The absurdities begin with the medical one of the demon tree sending its swirling branches (!) to kidnap any girl who has got her first menstrual period! The girls are then returned a few days later, with their monthly cycles stopped even though they are not pregnant. Forget the fact that no girl can conceive during the menstrual phase!!
Shuvankar (Indraneil Sengupta) belongs to a supposedly cursed family and has moved to the city with wife Ambika (Kajol) and has fathered a daughter, Shweta (Kherin Sharma). They decide not to visit their village with her at any cost, even though Shweta wishes to see the place.
One night, Shuvankar gets the news that his father, who lived in their mansion (haveli), has passed away, and leaves for the village in the middle of the night. After the last rites, he requests his friend, Joydev (Ronit Bose Roy) to find a broker who will sell the place. While returning home, he is burnt alive in the car by the tree’s branches engulfing him and his vehicle.
Three months later, Ambika is summoned by Joydev to meet the estate agent and Shweta insists she come along. In the mansion live a servant couple, Bikash and Nandini (Gopal Singh and Surjyashika Das respectively), whose daughter Deepika (Roopkatha Chakraborty) becomes friends with Shweta. Bikash’s father (Dibyendu Bhattacharya) has lost his voice many years back with shock, but on seeing Shweta, he regains it and issues an ominous warning of destruction.
Shweta and Nandini surreptitiously go to ‘check out’ the notorious haunted tree, and the same night, Nandini, who gets her periods for the first time, goes missing. The mother blames Shweta for having taken her daughter near the tree, and soon Shweta gets her periods too and it is time for her to be abducted. Ambika challenges the new demon, invoking the powers of Kali Maa, whose temple is there in the village, but has been locked up for 40 years.
Kajol’s performance is, as usual, tremendous. Dignified in the face of opposition, protective with Shweta and fiercely determined as ‘Maa’, she delivers a bang-on turn. Ronit Bose Roy, Roopkatha Chakraborty, Gopal Singh, Surjyashika Das and Dibyendu Bhattacharya deliver effective essays. Indraneil Sengupta is as good as his limited role, and Kherin Sharma is good in parts. The rest of the cast is okay.
The writers and director really do not exert themselves, and the film is largely based on horror tropes with some incredulous core ideas. The post-climax even has a scene that should not have been even conceived in the name of thrills, forget being written and shot, but that has to be watched to be believed. Technically, the film is on par, ditto the background score, whereas the songs are, as usual now for long, dispensable.
One expected a horror drama that was at least close to Ajay Devgn’s first horror production, Shaitaan, if not his starrer, Bhoot (2003). But the mediocre and stretched second half undoes the film, which looked deceptively intriguing until the interval point!
Rating: **1/2
Ajay Devgn Films’ & Jio Studios’ Maa Produced by: Ajay Devgn & Jyoti Deshpande Directed by: Vishal Furia Written by: Saiwyn Quadras, Ajit Jagtap & Aamil Keeyan Khan Music:Rocky Khanna, Shiv Malhotra & Harsh Upadhyay Starring: Kajol, Indraneil Sengupta, Ronit Bose Roy, Kherin Sharma, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Roopkatha Chakraborty, Surjyasikha Das, Jitin Gulati, Vibha Rani, Naveen Jagbir Sandhu, Gopal Singh, Yaaneea Bharadwaj & others
