Madhuri

Story: An accident leaves the strict yet caring mother Madhuri suffering from retrograde amnesia, which changes her as well as her daughter Kavya’s life to the extreme.

Review: How would you feel if you wake up one day and have no memory of the last 20 years (of course given that you are above 20)? Confused? Or maybe happily unaware, if your life has been as tumultuous as that of the film’s protagonist Madhuri (Sonali Kulkarni).

Madhuri, a teacher, has brought up her daughter Kavya (Sanhita Joshi) alone and though very strict, she cares a lot for Kavya. On the other hand, Kavya is a rebel and isn’t comfortable being dictated the terms to her life by her mother. An unfortunate accident turns the tables as Madhuri loses memory of the last 20 years of her life, thereby believing that she is still in her 20s. Initially hesitant to care about the situation, Kavya unknowingly slips into the shoes of being Madhuri’s caretaker, of course with help from a psychiatrist (Sharad Kelkar) and her friend Rohan (Akshay Kelkar). The role-reversal leads to certain upheavals and realisations for the mother-daughter duo and changes their perspectives of looking at each other.

After every Swapna Waghmare-Joshi directorial, one is left with a sense of incompleteness. Barring Savita Damodar Paranjape, the director’s last release, her films look promising at the start but gradually begin losing grip on the subject. That’s also what happens with Madhuri.

Although the story of a 40 plus year old mother turning into a 20-something is pretty interesting, the execution is not as interesting, partly because there’s too much happening too quickly. On the positive side, the performances salvage the situation to some extent, with the charming Sonali breezing through her role, newcomer Sanhita showing spark, Akshay oozing genuineness and Sharad, sincerity. However, the actors alone can’t carry through an entire film that falters in execution.

Madhuri is a heartfelt attempt, we give it that, but the film doesn’t live up to the expectations riding on it.