Mama’s Boys ★★½

A modern, naughty take on Mahabharata, with Pandavas, Kunti and Draupadi in the 21st century

Reader’s discretion advised. Some of the content in this review and the short film might be unsuitable for younger audience.

Synopsis

Mama’s Boys depicts a modern, naughty take on Mahabharata. The short film starts with Arjun bringing his newly wed wife Draupdi into the house for the first time. Subsequently, Kunti orders Pandavas to share Draupdi among them. Obviously, this puts Arjun in a fix. On one hand, he doesn’t want to ‘share’ his beautiful wife! On the other hand, he is a ‘mama’s boy’ and cannot refute Kunti’s order. Mama’s Boys explores an alternative re-imagination of he scenario from the perspective of Draupdi and the five brothers.

What works

Big budget and strong cast works for this short film. In comparison to new faces, it is proven that watching known faces is more soothing. Scientifically, this innate preference worked for us to progress by stronger social bindings, and to make friends (and enemies).

And this ingrained preference work in favor of Mama’s Boys. From Neena Gupta, Aditi Rao, Arunoday Singh to Razak Khan, the list continues. To tell you frankly, Mama’s Boys becomes borderline tolerable thanks to the star cast, otherwise this would have fallen flat on its face.

In particular, Aditi in the role of Draupdi has good facial expression and appears sensuous as required by the screenplay. Arjun played by Amol Parashar is also good.

What could have been better

Everything else! Just about everything could have been much better. Clearly, the team had no budget or talent constraints and they could have used such talent in much better story. To start with, the whole film does not flow coherently. Instead, it feels like collection of short incidents where you no longer even want to relate to the issue at hand.

Then comes the story. Delhi-Belly fame Akshat Verma has directed and written the short film. I liked that movie and the story Akshat presented, but that skill and the flow is completely amiss in Mama’s Boys. Consequently, the whole short film of 13 minutes (credits of 2 minutes extra) reduces to a random collection of sexual innuendoes.

Verdict

It is watchable thanks to the star cast, otherwise the short film offers nothing new or interesting.

AglaPlay Verdict: A run-of-the-mill production with nothing new or interesting. Okay to watch for star cast.
AglaPlay Rating: 2.5/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~13 minutes
Writer: Akshat verma
Director:  Akshat verma
Cast: Aditi Rao Hydari, 
Amol Parashar,
Arunoday Singh, 
Jim Sarbh,
Neena Gupta,
Razak Khan,
Vivaan Shah,&
Others
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No6Q5aeTWzk
Mama’s Boys: Big Star Cast with Little Content

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Khujli ★★★★½

A sweet romantic tale of a couple married for long. Love is not lost between them, neither has…

Synopsis

Khujli is a soothing heart-touching tale of a couple who have grown older together. They are normal John and Jane who have spent a normal life with normal things. In a sudden twist, the husband finds out that wife is not as sweet and innocent as he thought her to be. This beautiful short film depicts that twist!

What Works

Firstly, on-screen chemistry of Neena Gupta and Jackie Shroff is just amazing. The acting could not have been better!

Especially, the nuisances and the shocks are so life-like! Kudos to writer-director Sonam for bringing this story which borders on kinkiness but delivers with such sweetness.

While many stories talk of love in long term relations, few talk of the longing lust. Moreover, even fewer manage to tell it with the beauty Khujli does. By all means, sex is itself a taboo in Indian society. For this reason, it is regularly scorned, frowned and laughed at, given the situation and the audience. In the land of Kamasutra and nation with the fastest growing population, the treatment is anything but strange.

One may believe that the situation would be different on internet where everyone has a veil, an anonymity… But sadly, even when has anonymity and censor-free medium to release bold content, many a times even best of the directors translate it to pure-play skin show, or try to sell mediocre material after quoting it with sensuality and at times, perversion. We hence respect Khujli‘s team in bringing this out with such sweetness! Thank you, Ms Nair!

What could be better

Generally speaking, there is no negative on the film from AglaPlay’s end. Please let us know if you didn’t like something!

Verdict

To summarize, this is a must watch! There are explicit references to BDSM: parental guidance is recommended.

AglaPlay Verdict: Must watch
AglaPlay Rating: 4.5/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~14 minutes
Writer: Sonam Nair
Director:  Sonam Nair
Cast: Jackie Shroff, 
Neena Gupta &
Others
Khujli: Scratching 25 year old khujli in relationship…

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Mera Wo Matlab Nahi Tha

Mera Wo Matlab Nahi Tha – “I did not mean that” is the dialogue the central characters repeats many times, as every guy does in a relationship! The play is about two childhood lovers – Pritam and Hema – who could not marry each other due to circumstances. They meet after thirty-five years in a garden and walk down the memory lanes. There are so many things that needs to be shared between them, few secrets untold, and still, a present that they share in the morning hours sitting in the park. Far from being another tale of unrequited love, the play brings out different shades – their friendship, their bad memories, their prejudices and their trust in each other.

While the play has nothing new to offer on the topic-front, it treats it very well. It is also a must to watch for the performance of Anupam Kher. It is an absolute pleasure to watch Anupam Kher live. His acting acumen aside, his sheer energy on the stage moves the audience. Neena Gupta is dignified in her portrayal of Hema, but also excels in one of the very darkest performances, that shocks audience in post-interval. Cameo of Satish Kaushik through the multimedia is very funny! The write-director Rakesh Bedi has few guest appearances, unrelated to the main story. The dialogues, audio-visuals and the settings are apt to the play and are done aesthetically.

This otherwise a ‘good’ category play is transformed into something great and immensely enjoyable thanks to the stellar performances of the leads. The play borders on being a perfect family evening. Do note that few scenes (one scene in particular) can be hard for very young audience. It should be okay for 12+, though.

AglaPlay Verdict: A good play with amazing performances
AglaPlay Rating: 3.5/5
Language: Hindi 
Duration: 2 Hours (Approx.)
Writer: Rakesh Bedi 
Director: Rakesh Bedi
Cast: Anupam Kher (Preetam),
Neena Gupta (Hema),
Rakesh Bedi (Neighbour)
Satish Kaushik (On-Video, Preetam's relative)

Below are a few relevant links.

Other Links
About the Play by Anupam Kher [Do Watch]
Anupam Kher Wikipedia
Neena Gupta Wikipedia