Mom (2017)

Director: Ravi Udyawar

Story: Ravi Udyawar, Girish Kohli, Kona Venkat

Cast: Sridevi, Adnan Siddiqui, Sajal Ali, Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Music: A. R. Rahman, Qutub E-Kripa

Time: 146 minutes

Bottom-line: Pretty much a Sridevi show

Mom will most likely be remembered for two things – one, Sridevi winning her long-overdue National Award for Best Actress and two, this being her last big film – also her 300^th film appearance – before her unfortunate death a few months after the release. The film features Adnan Siddiqui, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sajal Ali in the lead roles, with Akshaye Khanna and Abhimanyu Singh in the supporting cast.

Devki (Sridevi) is a biology teacher who is popular among her students. She lives with her husband, Anand (Adnan), and is the stepmother of Arya (Sajal), who keeps calling her “ma’am” instead of “mom”, still unable to accept the fact that Devki has “replaced” her biological mother. On Valentine’s day, Arya goes to a party, where she publicly rejects her classmate Mohit’s proposal. Mohit and his friends take revenge by brutally raping Arya and dumping her in a drain, nearly killing her. Despite Arya’s statement accusing her attackers, the rapists are released due to lack of circumstantial evidence. Unable to digest this, Devki takes it upon herself to avenge Arya, with the help of detective DK (Nawazuddin) who feeds her intel about the rapists. Closely following the family is Crime Branch officer Matthew (Khanna) who soon starts suspecting Devki. What does the mom do?

 

Sridevi as Devki

While the bold attempt to make a woman-centric revenge drama must be appreciated, a little bit of pondering reveals several holes in the plot, some more obvious than the others. Of course, if Devki’s plan had been to go to each rapist’s house and clobber him with a cricket bat, then there’s no need for logic. But when she decides to take the smart route for revenge, I feel the plot could have been worked on more to fine-tune some aspects and give a cleaner tale. But again, when it’s Sridevi on screen, all these take the back seat; you ­want her to win.

 

Sajal as Arya

Sridevi’s performance is, undoubtedly, brilliant. Specifically, look out for the scene where she breaks down in the hospital when she is informed about the rape, and also her acting in the climax. Her National Award is the first time it has been awarded posthumously. Sajal Ali’s role is sublime as well, and the divide between mom and daughter in the film is just so painful on many occasions. After a point, you don’t know whether to pity Devki more or Arya. Nawazuddin Siddiqui dons a new appearance and accent for this film, making him almost unrecognisable at first sight. It seems like a needless gimmick but nevertheless, it is entertaining to see him having this look.

 

Siddiqui as DK

Mom ends Sridevi’s career on a high note, but as a film by itself, there is scope for improvement as far as the script goes. The technical aspects and the acting are of high quality (I liked the cinematography in particular, especially the way the rape is indirectly depicted only through ominous music and a top view of the car inside which it happens). However, if you are looking for just a thriller or a woman-centric film, there are better ones; if you just want to watch Sridevi, this movie will satisfy you but I would also strongly recommend the earlier work of hers, English Vinglish. 

My Rating: 3/5