The trailer of Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s Dear Maa has been unveiled just a fortnight away from its release date. As revealed earlier by its teaser, the film is a relationship drama that explores the depths of the multi-layered relationship between a mother and her young daughter and through it, tries to get a better understanding of the idea of motherhood.

Starring Jaya Ahsan as an adoptive mother, Dear Maa will obviously inspect the mother-daughter relationship through a deeper and perhaps sharper sociological lens. What appears to complicate the plot of the film and the relationship between Jaya Ahsan’s character and her daughter Sohini (Ahana) further is that the child is aware of the identity of her biological mother and feels a spontaneous surge of emotion for the latter. It is quite evident from the trailer that Jaya Ahsan’s character is at a much weaker end of the invisible tug-of-war that goes on in Sohini’s mind between her two mother figures — a truth that leads the child to abandon her adoptive mother and try to get emotionally closer to her biological one.

The trailer implies the growth of the central character played by Jaya Ahsan by tracing her journey as an adoptive mother. It depicts her transformation from an ambitious, career-focused woman to someone who is completely devoted to her adopted daughter. Longing to be loved as a mother, she is upset by her daughter’s emotional detachment and is desperate to strengthen their bonds and prove her love for the child, till the very end.

It is clear from the trailer that Jaya Ahsan has delivered an outstanding performance in Dear Maa, portraying the sorrow, pain and pathos of her predicament through well-balanced and nuanced expressions and gestures. Her dialogues with Sohini reflect her earnestness to forge a bond with her daughter, while what she says to others articulates her firm belief in the power of her love for the child and in the strength, purity and legitimacy of her motherhood. She is particularly brilliant in the one scene where her barriers of patience break to reveal her bitterness, frustration and helplessness, making it clear to the audience that she will successfully carry the film on her shoulders all the way.

Dear Maa’s supporting cast of actors, especially Anubha Fatehpuria as the house help and Saswata Chatterjee as a police officer, deserves special mention. Chandan Roy Sanyal’s chemistry with Jaya Ahsan, who plays his wife, looks beautiful, genuine and effortless. Other characters played by Dhritiman Chaterji and Shayan Munshi are expected to add layers to the already complex strands of emotions and sensibilities at play in the film. Bickram Ghosh’s background score accentuates the film’s poignant theme while its songs tug at the heartstrings, preparing the audience for an emotional rollercoaster ride when Dear Maa releases in theatres on July 18.