Parents' Guide to Maa Behen

Movie NR 2026 127 minutes
Maa Behen movie poster: Three women in a home look shocked at something off-screen.

Common Sense Media Review

Barbara Shulgasser-Parker By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 13+

Mom and daughters try to cover up a crime; language, sexism.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 13+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Maa Behen: Three people in a room, moving a large object wrapped in cloth.
  • Maa Behen: Smiling Indian woman in traditional attire, standing near a window.
  • Maa Behen: Three Indian women sit closely, appearing thoughtful and pensive, in a warmly lit room.

Parent and Kid Reviews

See all
age 13+

Based on 2 parent reviews

 

 

See all 2 parent reviews
 

 

What's the Story?

In MAA BEHEN, Jaya (Triptii Dimri) is a no-nonsense wife of a spoiled man. Late one night, her difficult mom, Rekha (Madhuri Dixit), calls in a panic and begs her and her sister Sushma (Dharna Durga) to come help her. She seems to be paralyzed by the fact that her unpleasant neighbor's body (Ravi Kishan) is lying in her house. The rest of the movie offers differing versions of how he got there. Everything comes to a head as the police investigate the neighbor's disappearance, focusing on Rekha and her daughters.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 2 ):
Kids say : Not yet rated

Maa Behen is all over the place, and not in a good way. It tries to support feminism and female empowerment, but the women it champions scheme, steal, betray, and act stupidly, using their sexual power to manipulate men when possible and claiming they are victims when it suits them. The primary takeaway is that everyone is terrible here.

The script never makes up its mind about the lead character, Rekha. She's both coldly scheming and also unpredictably prone to feigned feminine helplessness and hysteria. Is she faking her vulnerability to earn the empathy and assistance of powerful men, or is she truly an inept flake? The actors are forced to embody cartoon characters drawn to illustrate a preposterous story. The movie is slow, with the inexplicable addition of unnecessary characters and pointless subplots that don't move the story forward but do mire us in a profusion of muddying and irrelevant information. It takes four minutes of unfunny dithering for Mom to let her kids know she's calling because she doesn't know what to do with the dead body in her house. And don't forget the singing and dancing from out of nowhere. It's a Bollywood trademark that usually adds joy and fun to a picture, but not this time. All that wasted screen time could be used to explain what actually happened and why.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the gender double standard showcased here. Women are scolded for being sexual while men who behave the same way are thought of as "alpha" and "macho."

  • How does the slapstick approach focusing on women making bad, panicky decisions undermine the movie's emphasis on female empowerment?

  • How are the female characters portrayed? Are they positive characters? Why, or why not? Why is it important to see nuanced representations of women on-screen?

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

Maa Behen movie poster: Three women in a home look shocked at something off-screen.

What to Watch Next

See all

Movies with Asian, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Characters

See all

Movies & TV That Celebrate Asian, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage & Culture

See all recommended movie lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate