Maaman

Maaman Movie Synopsis: An uncle's all-consuming devotion to his young nephew creates a domestic battlefield when his new wife arrives, challenging family loyalties and everyone's last nerve.

Maaman Movie Review: Ever been in a situation where a small child, through sheer force of will and cuteness (debatable, in this case), holds an entire room hostage? Maaman essentially stretches that feeling out for two and a half hours. The film starts with Inba (Soori) as the quintessential doting uncle whose world orbits his sister Girija (Swasika) and, more intensely, her son Laddu (Prageeth Sivan), born after a long wait. It’s all rather sweet and familiar until he marries Reka (Aishwarya Lekshmi) a doctor, and the film promptly forgets that newlyweds occasionally require, say, five minutes of uninterrupted conversation.

The crux of the drama and frankly, the source of much of the audience’s potential teeth-grinding, is Laddu. This isn't just a kid who adores his uncle; this is a miniature monarch whose every whim is law, particularly when it involves being permanently affixed to his maaman. From derailing the wedding night to torpedoing the honeymoon, Laddu’s antics are presented as charmingly childlike. They often land, however, with the thud of a tantrum in a library. He needs a psychiatrist and some medication - not a thumbs-up to every single stunt.

Soori stumbles through his marriage like he's clueless (he kinda is,) playing the loving uncle a bit too perfectly. Aishwarya Lekshmi often feels like the sole representative of Planet Earth, gently suggesting that perhaps her husband might like to acknowledge her existence. How she has the patience to put up with a family that seems bonkers and attend so many functions is beyond me. Swasika performs well, but her character's entitlement is hard to buy. Her head-in-the-sand approach might've flown decades ago, but her refusal to see her kid needs help today? Completely baffling. Yes, you can have characters that are stark for dramatic purpose. But where's the nuance, the writing that treats the audience as intelligent with a sense of humor? Even hilariously misguided figures sometimes speak undeniable truths amid their persistent preoccupations.

There are other narrative threads. An elderly couple (Rajkiran & Viji Chandrasekhar) whose bickering provides some texture, and a fleeting glance at Laddu's actual father, who's a forgotten footnote. Maaman touches on interesting potential themes. The strain of integrating into a close-knit family, the subtle power dynamics, even a child's need for boundaries. But it rarely commits to exploring them with any real depth. Instead, it often defaults to another scene of the nephew being, well, a lot.

Written By: Abhinav Subramanian