Set in Bhuj, an adorable, sweet and immensely loving Kaku (Suchita Trivedi) is living through her daily life with husband, Hasmukh (Nitesh Pandey) but her mind, soul and breath is all about her son, Rohan (Akshay Mhatre), who is living abroad with his work commitments.
We keep talking and keep wondering about when will Indian TV change, when exactly will we able to say that it will get progressive enough to move forward! However, amidst all the other obvious examples of regressive shows that we have otherwise, there comes a light to keep the hopes up.
Indiawaali Maa, the latest launch on Sony TV is not actually that show entirely where in spite of all the sweetness which is defined as ‘motherly love’ is prevalent, these are the exact things that shouldn’t be justified after all.
What I am not ruling out however, is that IndiaWaali Maa is probably amongst the best shows I have seen recently, (judging by the premiere episode.) Set in Bhuj, an adorable, sweet and immensely loving Kaku (Suchita Trivedi) is living through her daily life with husband, Hasmukh (Nitesh Pandey) but her mind, soul and breath is all about her son, Rohan (Akshay Mhatre), who is living abroad with his work commitments. Straight off the bat, it is established that Kaku’s life is all about constantly dying to have that one talk with her son who never calls her, and even then blindly being ‘understanding’ on why he doesn’t’ call. Her husband is the realistic one who constantly tries to make his innocent wife understand how his son will never come back at the same feeling the sadness of being a father who misses his son.
The most impressive thing about IndiaWaali Maa is its subtlety. Presentations should never be about literally blurting out things to make a point and unforutunately Indian TV shows are all about that usually. It is a treat that so far, IndiaWaali Maa isn’t. Except for the LOUD title of the show, the show in itself proves all its points with great subtlety. Things like loneliness, need of family, being a quintessential “Indian” woman, the sheer maternal instincts that a woman possesses are masterfully shown in the show without actually saying it. In one scene where Kaku goes to her neighbor to ask to learn about using a smartphone, she casually starts helping her with cooking food while standing through a window, still conversing about other things. This, and several other things in the show are just outright fantastic in terms of the portrayal of emotions.
Needless to say now but all this is due to the maestro act that actor Sucheta Trivedi is able to exhibit. The actor, in a recent interview said that this show is her best so far, and I have to say, I completely agree. She is there in every frame and manages to give her best in every possible scene. She makes you feel the mother’s helplessness of not being able to talk to her son at the same time trying to be understanding about her son’s ‘situation.’ That struggle of emotions is so well portrayed by Trivedi and she is indeed the star of the show. Similarly, Pandey as her on-screen husband is fantastic too. Underplaying a character is a rare art and while Trivedi gets a barrage of scenes to play with,
Pandey compliments her exceedingly well. The funny banter between them is adorable and will have you the remember the likes of Badhaai Ho and how middle-aged on-screen romance and fun is still so endearing to see.
Even though Akshay Mhatre makes an appearance in the end, judging by the first episode; my Kudos to the actor for even taking up a role like this which is easily unlikable. I am sure that he will have several redeeming scenes later but if you have seen the first episode, you will absolutely hate Rohan. IndiaWaali Maa has all the ingredients to go on and become a winner for Sony and for TV in general. It might be able to perfectly blend quintessential flavors that is loved by all Indian viewes with the idea of progressive and forward storytelling. Foe now, I can certainly say that is a bang for the show to begin with.
Rating – **** (4/5)