Coming back to Hindi horror years after Stree felt like returning to an old haunt, quite literally.
Maa follows on from Shaitaan with a modern take on the Kali-Raktbeej mythology, and whilst I completely missed the Shaitaan connection (having not watched it), the film works perfectly well on its own.
Kajol is absolutely brilliant as a mother battling supernatural forces, bringing proper intensity to folk horror for the first time in her career. She’s utterly convincing in the desperation and fury, never overselling the scares. Ronit Roy provides sterling support as her husband, grounding the family dynamics effectively. The child actors hold their own without being irritating, which is rather rare in Bollywood horror.
The mythology feels authentic rather than cobbled together, which folk horror desperately needs. The climax works well, and the performances are strong throughout.
However, the film squanders its potential rather badly. The story is predictable, the execution is safe and rather dull. The writing is somewhat lazy, sometimes overly stretching the mytho, and there’s an awful plot twist at the end that makes absolutely no sense.
The VFX look cheap and unconvincing… disappointing considering the budget puts this in the same range as Hollywood horror films like Speak No Evil or The Nun II, which manage far more convincing effects.
Maa works best when it focuses on maternal desperation instead of mythological lectures. It’s decent horror elevated by Kajol’s commitment, but it should have been considerably braver.
Rating: 7/10 (Proper maternal horror that could’ve been genuinely frightening with better writing)
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