Madhuri Dixit leads the cast of Maa Behen, with the veteran actor playing femme fatale Rekha, the quirky, uninhibited mother to Triptii Dimri’s Jaya and Sushma, which marks the debut of Dharna Durga. The Netflix film, which releases on the streaming platform today, is a serio-comical look at these unconventional women who find themselves in the middle of thrilling circumstances. Ravi Kishan plays the important part of Rekha’s neighbour, Gupta, in the film directed by Suresh Triveni, who has outings like Tumhari Sulu, Jalsa and Subedaar to his credit.

At the trailer launch of Maa Behen in Mumbai recently, t2 sat down with Madhuri Dixit, Triptii Dimri, Ravi Kishan, Dharna Durga and Suresh Triveni for an exclusive chat.

Suresh, what formed the germ of the idea of Maa Behen?

Suresh Triveni: There are two parts to this. After making Tumhari Sulu (starring Vidya Balan), I wanted to look at writing wacky women characters. I had a great writing partner in Pooja Tolani and we came up with the idea of this crazy mother and her two equally crazy daughters, but people who have more to them than just their quirks. The real joy for me as a filmmaker is to create characters who you don’t meet on an everyday basis. It is great fun as well as a challenge to write them. My wife jokingly says that my first film, Tumhari Sulu, had one woman (Vidya), the second, Jalsa, had two in the form of Vidya and Shefali (Shah) and now the third, Maa Behen, has three! (Laughs)

Jokes apart, what I wanted to create in Maa Behen was a beautiful mess. I wanted messy characters, irrespective of their gender. Of course, later the gender and the politics associated with it come into play in the story. This is the first time in my filmography that I have gone all out with the kind of humour you will find in Maa Behen.

What is that one absolutely crazy aspect in each of your characters that appealed to you immediately?

Madhuri Dixit: My character, Rekha, is very chaotic and that is what I love about her. She is all over the place! Usually, a mother is placed on a pedestal. The expectation, as decided by society, is that she should be ideal, she should be sacrificing. But Rekha is not at all like that. All her life, she has lived on her own terms. For that, she is always judged by those around her, but she doesn’t give two hoots about anything that anyone says about her. She has a very strong personality and she is imperfect. That is what I loved about her.
Triptii Dimri: All the women in the film, at the end of the day, are imperfect. And that holds true for my character, Jaya too, even though she wants to be a perfect example to society. She is the kind who thinks: “I will do everything by the book, I will do everything that society expects of me.” Getting married into the right family and finding a good guy is what she believes she has done. If her mother (Rekha) dresses a certain way, she will make sure that she does the complete opposite. She feels that her mother is not ideal because from a very young age, she has heard people talking about Rekha in a judgmental way. Jaya thinks she is the opposite of Rekha, but inherently, she is exactly the same as her mother.

Madhuri Dixit in the film

What appealed to me is the fact that most of us are like that. As an actor, initially, I tried to be perfect in everything. I put too much pressure on myself to be the best in every sphere. I was like: “When I go to a film set, I have to be perfect, when I do an interview, I have to be perfect.” But later on, one realises that there is nothing called perfection. You just have to be real, you have to be a good human first. The rest just follows.
Ravi Kishan: My character (Gupta) is very unpredictable. I hadn’t played someone like him before. You can’t put him into a box. I wasn’t sure about playing such a man, but he (Suresh Triveni) convinced me. He said he wanted only me to play this part. If I am praised for this film, I will give him all the credit.
Dharna Durga: Sushma is very close to who I am... I related to her a lot and I felt all the emotions she goes through in the situation that she and her mother (Rekha) and sister (Jaya) are in. I have learnt a lot from playing Sushma. She is carefree and impulsive and confused... but all this makes her very real. People say that she is an attention seeker, but no one knows her side of the story. I really like Sushma... how real she is, how honest she is... she is also very chaotic like her mother!

Suresh, did the names of the three women in the film come from the iconic Nirma ad jingle that went viral in the 1980s?

Suresh: When I wrote the first draft, the characters had different names. But when Pooja and I were discussing the story, it struck me that we could call them Rekha, Jaya and Sushma. It is a popular jingle — and these are names — that we have all grown up with. The names have a nice ring to them and we thought that they would fit in beautifully. But it came as a gut feeling, it wasn’t anything strategic. The only thing that came to me first was the title of this film, much like how Tumhari Sulu had come to me....

But you never had any second thoughts about calling it Maa Behen?

Suresh: Never. Why do we only look at it as a gaali? The problem actually lies with us then!

Which part of the dysfunctionality of your characters do you wish you could imbibe in your own lives?

Madhuri: I wish I could be as carefree as Rekha. I wish I could function with abandon, like she does. But I don’t think I can be that dysfunctional in life because of the pressure of the kind of elegance with which one needs to live with (laughs).
Triptii: The relationship between the mother and daughters is so dysfunctional, and I somehow love that! I like that they can be a hundred per cent real with each other because most of the time, as humans, we all tend to put on a face, we have to pretend to do or like or be something that we aren’t. But all three women in this film are unapologetic about who they are and what they want. Also, it may not come across on the surface, but the love between them is very strong and pure.

Ravi Kishan as Gupta

Rekha is extremely quirky and uninhibited. Is there anything about your mothers that makes you believe they are completely bindaas?

Triptii: My mother is very selfless. She will think of everyone else first, which, honestly, I don’t think is a good thing. It makes us very selfish when it comes to her. But there is something really beautiful and powerful she told me once. My sibling and I were once having a very messy fight — a lot like how Jaya and Sushma fight in Maa Behen. I was extremely angry and was shouting. But she told me that raising my voice doesn’t help me in showing power... in fact, it illustrates the fact that I am weak. She said that if I could control my anger and resolve it in my head, that would be real power. That was such an important lesson that I have carried with me since. If I am in a situation like that now, I just take myself out of the equation. I don’t spoil my physical or mental health for something like that. I feel that is something very bindaas that my mom said. It is aspirational too.
Madhuri: My mother hailed from Ratnagiri, she came from a poor family and married and came to the city. She was overpowered by a lot of things at the same time, but she never let anything get her down. Throughout my career, she was my spine. Even though she came from an orthodox family, she stood by me through thick and thin.

I will tell you about an incident that happened in the early part of my career. I was considered very skinny and would be told about it all the time! It would always be like: “Oh my God, she is too thin!” I used to feel very bad whenever I heard that. Once I was shooting for a film and had to wear a sari. The director was like: “She is looking too young and thin”. And I thought: “Now, what can I do about that?!”

But my mother, who was on set with me, was very cool, she was blessed with a great sense of humour. She took me upstairs and made me a cup of tea. She told me: “Let’s take 10-15 minutes away from the shoot”. We just sat there for some time, she adjusted my sari for a few seconds and we went down. Then she went and asked the director: “Ab theek hain?” And he was like: “Yes, now it is perfect!” She had literally done nothing, but she had that power! Even journalists liked to speak to her more. They were always like: “You are very boring! Your mom is more interesting to talk to!” (Laughs)
Suresh: Your question actually made me realise all the ways in which my mom is cool. One thing that has always been consistent with her is patience and the other is forgiveness. She has the patience to deal with a son like me. I think these are superhero talents.

Like Madhuri’s mother, she had to shift from one place to another. She is a Malayali who shifted to Ranchi, got married and lived 27 years of her life with a man who then passed away. She had to shift to Chennai and then Mumbai. Her resilience is what makes her special. Men, in general, take time to acclimatise to places and situations. Women are far more adaptable.
Madhuri: My mother, in her village, had not even seen an egg being broken, she was pure vegetarian. But my dad liked eating non-vegetarian food. So she not only learnt how to cook for him but also ate with him.
Ravi: My mother is amazing! She is 85 and a cancer survivor. She lives in the village, is very active, looks after acres of land, runs an entire business there.... Every morning, no matter how busy or unwell she may be, she will call me and check on what I am doing, whether I have gone to the gym, whether I have eaten....
Dharna: When my father’s business shut down, my mom had to sell all her jewellery. We shifted to a smaller place on rent. She started working in Nirula’s (in Delhi) as a manager. Every evening, she would bring us chocolates. My parents had a lot of stress in their lives, but they — especially my mother — never showed it to us. I have lost my father, and my mother continues to be a pillar of strength.

In Maa Behen, Rekha works at a wine shop. Who among you would most likely open one in life?

Suresh: I think it would be Triptii!
Triptii: What?! Why me?
Suresh: Just my gut feeling! You are most likely to do so among all of us.

Apart from Dharna’s character Sushma, who else is a “Reels paglu”, as the film says?

Ravi: That would have to be me!
Suresh: He makes the best videos. I don’t know how he does them.
Ravi: Mujhe nahin pata kaise hota hain lekin main jo bhi karta hoon viral ho jaata hain!

Jaya is the roti expert in the film. Who makes good rotis?

Triptii: That would have to be Madhuri ma’am. We had gone somewhere to promote the film yesterday and she made some perfectly shaped rotis!
Madhuri: Yes, I am quite the roti expert!

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