“Jab Tak Teri Maa Tere Sath Hai, Ter Koi Kuch Nahi Bigad Sakta“
Overview
Maa, the first female-led horror mythological thriller drama film — makers have promoted this film as “From The World Of Shaitaan”. I just saw the film in theatres, morning show at 9:30 am, and as expected, the auditorium had an occupancy of 10-15% on the very first day. Makers released an offer of Buy 2 Get 1 Free, and still, there were very few audiences. Let’s begin with the review now.
Spoiler Warning
First of all, I want to say this review can contain spoilers. If you don’t want to spoil your experience, scroll down to the verdict section directly. And the second thing, try to watch this film on big screens only because there are too many scenes which have darkness, so you won’t enjoy this film on small screens.
Plot spoiled by Trailer
I don’t seem to understand why is the movie marketing and the audience not evolving at all? The entire story was revealed in the trailer, about 80% of the plot you already know what is going to happen from start to end. Who is gonna die, what will come after one particular scene, what will this character do now, everything in order from start to finish! It sucks the fun out of the theatre experience.
As I always say, trailer tells the story and we go to the theatre to fill in the blanks and watch the climax.
Story, Folklore and Screenplay
I loved the folklore. How they had used Kali Maa and Rakt Beej’s story to create Amsaja, the demon was very creative. I love such adaptations where the core of the story comes from our History or Spiritual books, surviving till the modern day and becomes a story of the normal people in our times.
But just getting a good adaptation is not enough. A story and the film itself should be engaging enough. The plot of Maa started off well, the trailer promised a lot of stuff but the screenplay was such a drag. Took too long for the build up and the payoff was not very well done. Overall felt very weak.
A few things worked but overall it was so predictable. When the policeman went with 4 hawaldars, we knew, pehle hawaldar marenge fir inspector. Ronit Roy’s backstory was nice but we could see it coming from a mile away. Boma Boma karke Bodmoshi karega pata tha. Budhiya protector niklegi like Snape, pata tha. Wahi usual twists.
VFX & AI
Except a few shots, most was quite pathetic. Amsaja was a clear rip-off of Vecna. Like some people say, sasti copy. Munjya was also a story of spirit tied to a tree and the character was full CGI. It was so well done. I always say, some of the things we can let go if the overall product is good. This was not one of those.
Some people praising it in the name of cost cutting or developing technology. But it should not be done on the expense of quality. It should not be done on the expense of audience. Main agar kachra dekhunga toh usko kachra bolunga. Not gonna praise mediocrity.
Check out this part of Naksha movie that was done 19 years go. the film is bad but this part was done very well. Also remember, 19 years ago.
Acting
Kajol as Ambika – she totally stole the show, but still, there was something missing in that. I couldn’t connect personally with any character. There was no connection with any character in the film. Bass lag raha tha film chal rahi hai, semi-interesting hai, dekhta jaata hu.
Ronit Roy as Jaidev – he is definitely a great actor. But he has also played a lot of negative characters and the way he was portrayed, it seemed that he was involved. Sarpanch hoke har jagah pahauch jata tha. I did not expect him to be the embodiment of Amsaja, that was unexpected for me, but overall it was quite undercooked.
Kherin Sharma as Shweta – She played the role of Kajol’s daughter. There was nothing extraordinary — it was decent. Most of the screen time was given to Kajol only. The characters weren’t properly explored.
Apart from them, actors like Jitin Gulati & Dibeyundu Bhattacharya were decently utilised, but needed more depth.
Direction & Storytelling
There is a one car drift scene in the film which was performed very well by Kajol. I remembered Bholaa after watching that scene, where many goons attacked Ajay Devgn, and here same scenario happened here. The only problem that it was stretched too long. There were several parts that were stretched which made the storyline a drag.
Kajol’s dance on Kali puja needed to be something we never seen before. It needed to be mesmerising backed by a fantastic song. However it was the same old no effort template stuff just done for the sake of it.
The fight scene in the end was also not something worth remembering. Two shots stood out for me – one where Kajol is in the air and we see an aura of Maa Kali around her. Second, when she finally steps on Amsaja and pulls out his heart. She looked fierce and embodied Maa Kali herself. But between these two shots, the fight sequence felt like that of a game, or tv serial, or cartoon show.
Please stop selling mediocre products to audience in the name of gods. Some people may be gullible but fooling the audience is a sin. Be true to the art, to cinema, to gods and the people you built you – the audience.
Cinematography
Cinematography was praisworthy — the forest scenes, the village scenes, the jump scares were all done well. With a bit more focus on the sound design and better screenplay, the film could have been something else altogether.
Bullshit Scene
I always say, every film has its own universe, and that universe has its own rules. For example, a ghost in Bhoothnath or Golmaal Again will be different from a ghost in Bhoot or Raaz. So we must not always try to find real life logic and physics in every film. But at the same time, a film should stick to the basic logic in its own world they have created. Don’t throw anything and expect the audience to praise you.
This is the scene I’m talking about. After Kajol kills Amsaja, the Purohita (old lady) says her daughter is pregnant. So Kajol decides to kill her. Then out of the blue, the souls of the dead babies rise from the ground and now the same old lady says, her daughter is not pregnant any more. Hain??
Arre bhai koi toh reason do, koi toh explanation do. Story bhi AI se likhwa li thi kya? Can’t believe 2025 mein aisa sab ho raha hai.
The Forced Universe
Ajkal Universe popular hai, toh sabko karna hai. Ata ho, nahi ata ho, koi matlab nahi, bas karna hai. MHCU ke alawa koi bhi cinematic universe, Universe kehlane layak nahi hai.
Maa did not start as a universe. Yaad hoga koi mention nahi tha kabhi bhi. Fir trailer se pehle 3 posters aye the, use just pehle ek image post kar di ki Shaitaan universe hai. Ab scene ki baat karte hain.
Pehli baat wo actor Madhavan tha bhi nahi. Bas voiceover tha uska. Dusra green screen pe shoot karke wahi ganda vfx chipka diya saaf pata chal raha tha. Teesa, koi sense tha uss scene ka? We don’t get to know if that scene is before the events of Shaitaan or after. Where is he? Is it the same burnt forest of Chandanpur or some place else? Kuch bataoge or are we just gonna assume things?
He touches the ashes and his hands turn black as if he got powers. Meaning kya hai iska? If this scene is before Shaitaan then usme toh koi aisi power nahi dikhai. And it this scene is after Shaitaan toh wo bol kaise raha tha? Faltu ka scene baad mein add kiya hai na? Saaf pata chal raha hai. Till the time people don’t start calling out these things, the makers will keep serving us undercooked stuff. So please, ask for better stuff. Don’t ridicule them, don’t bash, don’t abuse, just ask for what you deserve.
Just an add on – I love the Shaitaan theme from the moment I heard it. It is really something. So that’s the only thing I liked in the cameo scene.
Final Verdict
The film is watchable. I won’t say you much not go or it is a headache. Its not that bad. But it is not great either. Some parts are impressive which some are cliched. So some people may enjoy it. Personally I would not recommend it, but if you liked the trailer and you have the time, you can go.
OCD Times Rating – 2.75 ⭐
Author: Mohit Khetwani and Ishan Jain
Cast – Kajol Tanuja Devgn, Ronit Dolly Bose Roy, Indraneil Shubhra Sen Gupta, Jitin Jyoti Gulati.
Director – Vishal Revanti Furia
Release – 27 June 2025
Producer – Ajay Veena Devgn & Jyoti Santha Subbarayan with Kumar Mangat Bimla Devi Pathak
Also check out: Sitaare Zameen Par Movie Review
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