‘MOM’ movie review: Sridevi’s brilliant act and a fantastic story make this one a must watch

Directed By: Ravi Udyawar
Produced By: Boney Kapoor, Sunil Manchanda, Naresh Agarwal, Mukesh Talreja, Gautam Jain
Cast: Sridevi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Akshaye Khanna, Sajal Ali, Adnan Siddiqui
Duration: 2 hours 28 minutes
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 3.5/5

Sridevi tells Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a scene, “Bhagwan har jagah nahi hota hai DK ji.” To which Nawaz replies “Isliye toh usne Maa banayi hai.” Call her mother, maa, MOM or anything else, she is the one who brings us into this world. She stands with us whenever needed, but then we always look up to our father as a hero in our lives. The strength of a mother is often ignored and that’s what ‘MOM’ makes us realise. A mother can be as strong as a father. If someone tries to harm her children, she can go all out and take things in her own hands.

‘MOM‘ is about Devki (Sridevi) a school teacher. She is married and has two daughters, but her elder daughter, Arya (Sajal Ali) is from her husband’s (Adnan Siddiqui) first wife. Arya has not accepted Devki as her mother, but for Devki, Arya, is not less than her own daughter. One night Arya goes for a party and unfortunately gets raped. The incident changes the life of the entire family. The case goes to the court, but when law fails, a mother takes charge, and the way she takes revenge forms the rest of the story.

We have seen many revenge thrillers, but sometimes writers forget the logic while writing such genre of films. However, thankfully that’s not the case with ‘MOM’. The writers Ravi Udyawar, Girish Kohli and Kona Venkat Rao have written a very interesting story. The movie answers all questions you have in your mind while you are watching it. There are also emotional sequences in the film that will choke you and you will relate to what the characters are going through. The only problem here is that while the whole film showed a lot of realistic things that can happen, in the climax you will be disappointed a bit. Not giving out much details, but writers shouldn’t have given one of the supporting actors so much importance in the climax sequence. Showing him as the good man who helps the protagonist is just not that impressive. There’s also some confusion where the film is set. Is it in Delhi or UP? Because we are shown Metro trains which are not there in UP, and if the film is set in Delhi we wonder if the police vans will have the number plates with UP written on them.

Talking about the screenplay written by Girish Kohli, let us tell you that the first half could have been better. The court room sequences could have been tighter. The first half shoots up as soon as Sridevi comes on the screen, but then dips with other scenes. The second half is much better than the first half and has some wow moments that will surely make you applaud the writers. The way Sridevi takes the revenge is excellent. You won’t come to know what and how she will be doing it, but when she does it, your eyes will be left wide open.

Ravi Udyawar makes a fantastic directorial debut. Bringing a sensitive issue on the big screen is not an easy task, but Ravi manages it well. He never goes overboard in his narration to make the film look over dramatic. Cinematography done by Anay Goswamy is excellent. His camera angles do wonders for the film. Monisha R Baldawa’s editing is good, but the first half could have been shortened.

When an actress does her 300^th film, what would we expect from her because she has already done so many characters on the big screen? But, Sridevi surprises us. With a brilliant performance that surely deserves awards, Sridevi once again proves that she is one of the best actresses we have in Bollywood. Watch out for the sequence when she comes to know that her daughter has been raped. She has nailed it! Sajal Ali is terrific in the film. Her character gives her immense scope to showcase her fantastic acting talent. There are sequences that will give you goosebumps. Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the detective DK is simply amazing. We would like to ask the makers why he was credited as ‘special appearance’, he has a good amount of role in the film. Adnan Siddiqui too impresses us with her performance and Akshaye Khanna is also good in his part, but his character offers nothing new. Other actors like Abhimanyu Singh, Vikas Verma and Pitobash Tripathy don’t have much to do in the film, but are good in their respective roles.

AR Rahman’s songs don’t really help the film anywhere. But, it’s the background score that is superb. It suits the film’s theme and believe us, it’s the background score that makes many sequences impactful.

Overall, ‘MOM’ is one of those revenge thrillers that make you sit back and think how amazingly it has been executed and performed. It also has a very strong emotional quotient that will make your eyes moist. It’s a must watch.

Watch the trailer here: