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Mohmaya Review: Swastika Mukherjee-Ananya Chatterjee's Act Is The Only Highlight Of This Hoichoi Web Series
Star Cast: Swastika Mukherjee, Bipul Patra, Ananya Chatterjee, Neel Mukherjee
Director: Kamaleswar Chatterjee
Available On: Hoichoi
No. of episodes: 5
Language: Bengali
In one of the scenes, the protagonist of the Mohmaya Rishi (Bipul Patra), recalls his traumatic childhood. A seven or eight-year-old Rishi can be seen miraculously being able to tie up his mother using some ropes to prevent her from committing suicide. However, one cannot help but baffle at the illogical series of events that depict his past. Not only this, but the series is followed by many such bizarre situations. This makes a potential psychological thriller a laborious process to bear.
What's Yay: Swastika Mukherjee and Ananya Chatterjee's performance
What's Nay: The illogical and ambiguous plot as well as the lousy screenplay
Story
Rishi (Bipul Patra) is tormented by the horrors of his past. He time and again sees a glimpse of his late mother Maya (Ananya Chatterjee) and relives the horrifying tribulations she had to face owing to his abusive father and the effect it had on him. He soon forms an unhealthy obsession with Roona (Swastika Mukherjee), the mother of his childhood friend and his landlady, whom he believes to be a mother figure. However, all hell breaks loose when the obsession takes a dangerous turn and results in some frightening repercussions.
Direction
Kamleshwar Chatterjee has made a modest attempt to unveil the dark layers of a mentally troubled individual. The story by Sahana Dutta almost derives inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, wherein the main protagonist will remind you of the menacing Norman Bates. However, what acts as a bummer is the ambiguity in the story, the fact that Rishi's younger self manages to tolerate the macabre behaviour of his mother Maya being a mere 7 or 8-year-old. On the other hand, Roona and her husband (Neel Mukherjee) not even asking for proper documents from the visibly problematic Rishi while allowing him to live in their house is equally bizarre. However, the point where Mohmaya fails big time is the outright negative portrayal of a mental health victim. At a time wherein mental trauma is an extremely vulnerable subject of discussion, this blatant spiralling of a character suffering from a dangerous psychotic problem can be an unpleasant affair.
Performances
Talking about the performances in Mohmaya, Swastika Mukherjee this time too does justice to her role of the traditional, finicky yet vulnerable Roona. Her dialogue delivery and the subtle mannerisms like chewing some condiments in some scenes or sporting an absolute childlike confusion while seeing her newly created Facebook profile is on point. However, it is Ananya Chatterjee who breathes life into her character of a tortured and abused wife. Be it her spiralling into madness and having suicidal thoughts or appearing in her son's hallucinations, we cannot take our eyes off her. Bipul Patra as the troubled and menacing Rishi does a convincing act, but his performance becomes monotonous as the show progresses. A special shoutout to the child actor who essayed the role of younger Rishi.
Technical Aspects
The screenplay and editing seem extremely shabby which adds to the pace of the show. The flashback scenes may have some powerful act, but the sheer illogical plotlines of the same and the lack of a polished screenplay, will make you want to skip them. The only solace is the gripping background score which sets the tone for the riveting plotlines.
Verdict
Unless you wish to witness the realistic acts of Swastika Mukherjee and Ananya Chatterjee, this one can be easily avoided. We give Mohmaya 2 out of 5 stars.
