Aparna Purohit, head of Originals at Amazon Prime Video, says they zeroed in on ‘Maja Ma’as their first India original movie as the story has the power to “connect, inspire and entertain” the audiences.

Directed by Anand Tiwari, the family drama features Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit in the lead along with Gajraj Rao, Ritwik Bhowmik, Barkha Singh and Srishti Shrivastava.

Set against the celebratory backdrop of a quintessential, colourful Indian wedding, the story centres on Dixit’s Pallavi Patel and her quest to keep the family together while maintaining her own individuality.

“It is a story that is truly rooted in our soil,” Purohit told PTI, adding, “At Prime Video, we truly believe that good stories can connect people, can inspire, provoke and entertain audiences. We are a nation which absolutely loves movies.”

Written by Sumit Batheja, the film premiered last week on Prime Video to positive reviews.

When Tiwari and producer Amritpal Singh Bindra shared the idea of ‘Maja Ma’, Purohit said it “resonated with the team instantly”.

Tiwari and Bindra also had the same opinion following Bhateja’s narration as they could all connect with the family at the centre of the story.

“Even though all of us come from different parts of India and socioeconomic backgrounds, we could completely resonate with the family in the story.

“Amrit and I, we like to explore family dynamics, which are very rooted into our culture. This is truly an Indian film and Indian emotion that the audience will relate to,” the director said.

Tiwari, who previously collaborated with Prime Video on the 2020 series ‘Bandish Bandits’, believes ‘Maja Ma’ has the ability to touch the audiences on many levels, the PTI report stated.

“We all, at the end of day, have diverse yet similar lives and somewhere ‘Maja Ma’ will touch your heart. It will make you laugh, cry and remind you of people and hopefully tell you a little bit about yourself. I think this is what a good film is supposed to do,” he added.

The film touches upon themes of family dynamics and mother-child relationship. For Purohit, it was also an opportunity to pay homage to women.

“We always expect our parents to understand us, but do we ever make any effort to understand them? I think, every milestone I have achieved in my life, there is some unfulfilled dream of my mother which has backed me to reach my goal. This film is truly a homage to that,” she said.

Tiwari added: “It gets inspired by our own mothers. We grew up to see our parents in a certain light and hope that they will solve all the problems. As you grow up, you start realising they are an individual human being.”