Don’t glorify your mother’s pain: Mona Singh
The ‘Subedaar’ star talked about why ‘Maa Ka Sum’ feels different
Mona Singh is quite literally on a roll of late. After surprising everyone with her fierce, never-before-seen avatar as mafia queen Babli Didi in Prime Video’s ‘Subedaar’, she is turning the tables in a completely different role with ‘Maa Ka Sum’. This time, Mona plays Vinitha, a modern single mother navigating love, life and self-discovery on her own terms. At the heart of this coming-of-age drama series is a dynamic you don’t see often. A 19-year-old math whiz trying to ‘solve’ his mother’s love life using mathematics, algorithms and logic, while she’s simply trying to feel something real again.
The actress talked about why her character is different from stereotypical mom roles and what drew her to this role.
“I’ve played mothers before, but Vinita felt very different to me. She’s not written as this perfect, sacrificing figure we’ve seen for years. For the longest time, we’ve put mothers on a pedestal, where their entire identity is about giving and giving. But Vinita breaks away from that. She’s a mother, yes, but she’s also a woman with her own life, her own choices and her own desires. She wants companionship; she’s open to dating and she’s figuring things out on her own terms. That honesty is what really drew me to the character; it felt real and very today,” Mona said.
She added, “I feel it’s important, especially for younger audiences, to see their mothers as individuals first. They have dreams, emotions and a life beyond just being a parent. If this story can make people understand and accept that a little more, I think that’s a beautiful takeaway.”
Produced by Babita Ashiwal under the banner of ‘Eunoia Films’, ‘Maa Ka Sum’ is an emotionally resonant ‘Prime Original’ series directed by Nicholas Kharkongor and written by Ravinder Randhawa and Sumrit Shahi. It features Mona Singh, Mihir Ahuja, Angira Dhar and Ranveer Brar in the lead roles. The series will premiere exclusively on ‘Prime Video’ in Hindi, with subtitles in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, on April 3.