In her first Hindi film in five years–‘English Vinglish’ in 2012 being  her last– Sridevi turns out to be as impressive and charismatic, if not more. ‘Pink’ and ‘Maatr’, in recent times, have underscored the aftermath and trauma of a sexual assault on a hapless victim and her family.
In ‘Mom’ we have Devki Sabharwal (Sridevi), a biology teacher, tossing a boy’s mobile phone  out of the window for sending a porno clip to female  students — one of whom happens to be her step-daughter Arya (Sajal Ali)—during  class. The boy Mohit, along with his friends, exacts revenge on Arya by gang-raping her after a party. The mother, with whom Arya has a rather lukewarm equation (the daughter always addresses her as ma’am), now steps up gears to avenge her daughter’s horrific incident.
With barely any supporting actor of note, Raveena Tandon in ‘Maatr’, was left all alone to handle her comeback film. In his directorial debut, Ravi Udyawar brings all his advertising experience to ‘Mom’, never letting the film be overly dramatic. Even when the daughter repeatedly screams in her mother’s arms, the viewer empathises with her and the family— in most films, it would have sounded melodramatic. As a last resort—after the law acquits the four culprits for lack of sufficient evidence and the crime branch inspector Mathew Francis ( Akshaye Khanna) expresses  helplessness, a grieving and vulnerable stepmom, in trying to bridge the chasm between them is compelled to enlist the services of a private detective DK ( Nawazuddin Siddiqui).
The film follows a structured, albeit  predictable, narrative, and even at almost two-and-a-half hours, doesn’t seem stretched except for the latter part of the second half.
On the plus side, you have a fantastic and emotive actress in Sridevi and a first-rate backup cast—Pakistani actors Adnan Siddiqui as Devki’s husband Anand and Sajal Ali lend commendable support, while Akshaye Khanna in one of his sparse appearances (and one wonders why)puts in a credible performance.  But in a vastly transformed avatar, as the enigmatic detective DK,the film belongs as much to Nawazuddin as to Sridevi. Despite his limited screen time, he steals the thunder from right under the thespian’s ‘nose’ and demonstrates why he is such a scene- stealer. A couple of twists, alongwith (Maa Tujhe Salaam) A R Rehman’s potent background score (especially when the black SUV with the victim, is driven through the night), embellish the film.
On the flip side, a predictable plot weighs down the film. Even with Anay Goswami’s excellent cinematography, too much attention seems to have been paid to the darkish hues in the indoor scenes. Also Sridevi’s accent is irksome, even though this is her 68th Hindi film in 50 years. Also, a couple of songs seem totally unnecessary; and was the secrecy between the private detective and client imperative?
On the whole though, a film worth a one-time watch.