'Entering worlds of crime, cops and family'

As netizens draw parallels between Mai and Sridevi’s Mom, makers say Sakshi’s series goes beyond a revenge thriller to tackle many themes

Mai sees Sakshi Tanwar’s character set out to uncover the truth when her daughter, essayed by Wamiqa Gabbi, is killed under suspicious circumstances. When the trailer dropped online late last month, a section of netizens felt that the plot has several similarities with Mom (2017). In the Sridevi-led thriller, the protagonist takes it upon herself to avenge her daughter’s sexual assault.

Anshai Lal, who has helmed Mai along with Atul Mongia, says that the two offerings may be revenge thrillers at heart, but have little else in common. “Atul and I haven’t seen Mom. We don’t know how to react to that allegation. I was lucky enough to work on Chak De India [2007]. Any other sport film [that released after Chak De] was held to that benchmark. Since there is no benchmark for this kind of revenge story, Mom is the immediate film that comes to your mind. Once people watch Mai, hopefully they won’t draw parallels,” says Lal.

A still from Mom

With the Netflix series, Mongia says they have tried to tap into crime dramas with a strong emotional core. “Web shows are much wider; films have to be linear. In our show, we are entering three different worlds — that of crime, cops and lastly, the world of a family. The trailer may make you feel that the principal [storylines of Mai and Mom are similar], but they are different.” Tanya Bami, director, international originals, Netflix India, adds that the Tanwar-starrer is, at the end of the day, the story of a woman. “It’s the journey of a woman who, after years of being in a patriarchal [set-up], finds her voice.”

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