Sridevi-starrer Mom is brutal and for the most part a terrifying yet riveting film. The film deals with the horror and trauma a rape victim experiences and debutant director Ravi Udyawar has done an outstanding job of balancing the drama with equal amount of shock, thrill and honest emotions. The movie doesn’t make you cringe like recent thrillers such as Kaabil which also had a similar theme of being a revenge thriller centered around sexual assault.
Devki Sabarwal (Sridevi) is a high school teacher who is trying to win her over step daughter Arya, who doesn’t quite warm up to her as the memories of Arya’s biological mother still haunt the 18 year old.
Imagine the emotional turmoil and Sridevi delivers yet another masterclass, even though she portrays a vulnerable visibly weak individual she looks you straight in the eyes and makes you realize what a truly gifted performer she is.
There’s one scene where Sridevi walks in and lays her eyes on her daughter in the hospital bed, that 10 second scene where she just breaks down should be studied and there should be a lecture in acting schools on how to portray someone who is terribly shocked and deeply distressed it is like the physical manifestation of love weeping uncontrollably. The supporting cast including Abhimanyu singh, Sajal Ali and Adnan Siddiqui is solid. Akshaye Khanna proves yet again that he is a very fine actor, we’d like to see much more from him but Nawazuddin Siddiqui – as unbelievable as it is has surprised me yet again, he is so calm yet so loud, so low-key yet so sharp.