Mom Movie Review: A Mother’s Recipe For Revenge

A few months back, Raveena Tandon had made her comeback to Bollywood with Maatr, a story about a mother, who turns into a vigilante after her daughter is raped and justice is denied.

Ravi Udyawar’s directorial debut Mom starring Sridevi has an identical plot, but Mom easily proves to be a better product in every sense- from the performances to the camera work to the dialogues to the thrill element.

Devaki (Sridevi) is a high school teacher, who dotes on her step-daughter Arya (Sajal Ali), though the latter doesn’t reciprocate as she feels that no other woman can take her dead mother’s place. When Arya gets kidnapped and raped by her classmate, his cousin brother and their two accomplices, Devaki decides to use the services of ostensibly shady private eye Dayashankar Kapoor (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) to exact vengeance on the wrong-doers.

Sridevi, who made her comeback to acting with Gauri Shinde’s English Vinglish a few years back, is in top form as Devaki, a loving mother-turned- vigilante, who methodically goes about avenging her daughter’s rape with chilling ruthlessness. Sridevi deserves kudos for the way she makes Devaki come across as vulnerable and resourceful in equal measures. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who has hardly experimented with his looks so far, undergoes a total transformation to play DK and the man is a sheer delight to watch with his balding pate and buck teeth. Nawaz has got under the skin of his character and it is evident from his first scene itself. Without a doubt, this is one of Nawaz’s finest performances in recent years. Sajal, who makes her Bollywood debut with this film, too impresses us with her honesty and we hope to see more of her in films to come.

Unfortunately, Akshaye Khanna is totally wasted as Crime Branch sleuth Matthew Francis and he brings nothing to the table in this film despite his impressive credentials as an actor. The baddies too have given above average performances, especially the actors who play Arya’s classmate Mohit and his cousin Charles.

As for the film, even though all those who have seen Maatr will realize that Mom has a similar plot, it would be difficult for them to be distracted for the film keeps you on the edge of the seat, despite you knowing what is going to happen next and director Ravi Udyawar deserves a hearty pat on his back for this crackling thriller. Udyawar not only manages to keep you biting your fingernails, but also stays away from preachy speeches and infuses the film with enough emotional moments and sensitive sequences to elevate the film to another level altogether.

To sum it up, don’t ignore this film just because you have seen Maatr, because Mom is in a league of its own and absolutely worth a watch…