The film begins with a flashback of Shuvankar’s birth in Chandrapur during a Durga Puja. While everyone is happy about the news of the birth of a son, the tone changes when it’s revealed that a twin daughter is born. Due to the traditional practices of the family and a belief that girls of the bloodline bring ill fate to the world, the daughter is sacrificed in front of a tree. The tree is believed to have been possessed by a very old and powerful demon.
Years later, Kajol as Ambika explains a mythological story depicted in a painting about Goddess Kali and her battle with the demon Raktabeeja (Bloodseed). She reveals to the kids in her daughter Shweta’s class how gods had to seek help from Goddess Parvati, who took the avatar of Kali and helped take down the demon to reign over Heaven once again.
Inspired by the mythological stories and more history of her dad, Shuvankar’s home town, Shweta wishes to visit their native home for summer vacation, but both parents refuse to take her there. They later discuss how important it is for them to share the truth with her about Chandrapur and why they decided to keep her away from the place.
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Before they can share the truth with Shweta, Shuvankar finds out about the death of his father and decides to visit Chandrapur on his own. He decides to leave overnight, despite Ambika’s protests. However, he is followed by the demon which doesn’t end well for the Shuvankar or the family. The rest of the runtime focuses on uncovering the truth about Chandrapur, why the girls of the village are scarified, who the demon is and why he is haunting the town.
The makers have synced the mythological story well into the plot of the film while also commenting about the safety of young girls. Despite the screenplay’s great efforts it often does not translate well due to the editing. The makers also used major animation sequences during the mythological narration of the film. Unfortunately, it seems AI generated, but there is no clarification on the same. However, the action scenes between the Ambika and the demon are great to watch.
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Kajol’s performance is at the center of the film, and the actress doesn’t miss a beat. On the other hand Ronit Roy leaves a great impression with her performance as the village president. In the end, it is the ending of the story that betrays itself. Throughout the runtime we the major mystery of the story is left unexplained and used as a punchline to bring the plot to a full circle.
Overall, Maa is a good watch for fans of mythological stories, but the film does leave much to be desired in the ending, sans proper explanation.
Cover artwork by Patrick Gawande/Mashable India