Maaman movie review: Soori-starrer is underwhelming and overdependent on family sentiment

Maaman movie review: Comedian Soori transitions to a serious role in Maaman, a family drama directed by Prashanth Pandiyaraj.

Maaman Movie Review
Director: Prashanth Pandiyaraj
Cast: Soori, Aishwarya Lekshmi
Rating: ★★

In the last few years, comedian Soori has proved that he is a highly competent actor, having showcased his talent in films like Viduthalai and Garudan. Maaman, a family drama helmed by director Prashanth Pandiyaraj and written by Soori himself, tries to show another facet of the Tamil actor to his fans and the audience. Moving from the role of a comedian to a full-fledged hero is not easy as the actor should be able to pull off the protagonist easily in a riveting story.

Maaman movie review: Despite its intriguing premise, the film's treatment of familial issues and societal stereotypes is disappointing, making it an underwhelming experience overall.

Maaman: What is the story?

Maaman (Uncle) sees Soori play Uncle Inba to his nephew Nilan aka Laddu (Prateesh Sivan). Inba’s married sister Girija (Swasika) has prayed for years for a child and after a decade, she is blessed with Nilan whom the entire family dotes over. Inba and Laddu become inseparable and the uncle becomes the much-loved father figure in Laddu’s life despite having a dad. Inba meets gynaecologist Dr Rekha (Aishwarya Lekshmi) and love blossoms. It is when the two get married that problems start cropping up due to Laddu’s inability to live without his uncle, especially at night. Rekha and Inba start facing issues and family tension rises thanks to Laddu. How do these family problems get resolved?

What Maaman doesn't get right

The main story here revolves around a child, his uncle and the somewhat unhealthy relationship they share that affects numerous families. While it’s commendable that Soori has chosen this as the core, the treatment and the story are a lot less desirable. For instance, the scenes involving the practices a married woman, especially in rural areas, goes through when she is childless, could have been shown as regressive rather than reinforce them. Inba, who is there for everyone in his family, neglects his wife and this character reinforces the patriarchal mindset which modern society is fighting against. When Rekha suggests that Laddu needs counselling, the mother jumps in and says her son is not mentally ill. These inappropriate societal stereotypes and attitudes have been embellished in the story in the name of family sentiment and this is a let down.

As for child himself, Laddu is overly pampered because he is born late to his parents but the fact that no one bothers to discipline him as he is growing up, shows the lack of parenting skills - despite his mother being a teacher! Rekha - who is a doctor by profession - ends up being ridiculed by people with unscientific beliefs and less educated than her. Thus, more than the child, it is the adults in this family that all have serious issues that needed to be addressed.

Maaman flits through a variety of topics surrounding a family but hingeing it on an uncle-nephew relationship and throwing in plenty of sentiment and drama doesn’t really work. For instance, the child’s non-existent relationship with the father was a good point to explore as was his need for counselling.

The complexity of that relationship should have been explored in depth or the film could have been turned into a light-hearted comedy with the child’s antics at play.

When it comes to performances, Soori, Aishwarya Lekhmi, Swasika and Prateesh Sivan have done commendable jobs. Raj Kiran is apt as the ‘Lion’ and the elderly man in the family and Bala Saravanan comes through with comic relief. Music director Hesham Abdul Wahab, who has delivered some fantastic gems in Malayalam and Telugu cinema, makes his Tamil film debut with Maaman. The songs in this film are par for the course and don’t stand out sadly.

On the whole, this Soori Tamil drama is underwhelming and overly reliant on family sentiment.