Be it a speech, debate, comedy or a remade film — there is a maa-wali line that goes with every occasion. These maa dialogues have become a part and parcel of showbiz. Some of the tinsel town stars spoke to Deebashree Mohanty about their favourite maa-wali line
Maa... tum kitni achhi ho is the one for me. Most dialogues on mummiyan are serious and have a very high impact but this evokes laughter. Why is it so much of a surprise that a mother turns out to be goodIJ Funny, isn’t itIJ
I have never had reservations about playing a character if a film excites me. If today, I am offered the role of a mother, I will take it up, depending on what the script and the role is. Being a mother myself, I have come to realise what kind of sacrifices and the immense love that a mother can show towards her child.
— Madhuri Dixit, actress
Maa ka doodh piya hai to samne aa... is my favourite. I don’t remember how many times I have mouthed this dialogue in my films. This is one line that anyone, even a fresher can emote. Mothers on the silver screen are excellent supporting cast to stars. Rohini Hattangadi is a very powerful mother figure and Farida Jalal is the mom that every baccha wants to have.
I share a very special relationship with my mother. I am not a very emotional person so I find it difficult to express my feelings to her. But she has played a huge role in making me what I am today in the film industry. — Sunny Deol, actor
Tumhari maa meri kabze mein hai... is funny and serious at the same time. It is also a dialogue that can do with multiple emotions. You can say it like a dhamki or be sad about it. What makes a maa line popular is because many people relate to it in their lives. I was a problem child and hats off to my mother who had a lot of patience in me. I am a pampered child.
For me, lillete Dubey makes for the perfect on-screen mother and aunty material. She is smart and very practical. She is very good looking as well. — Bobby Deol, actor
Main tumhari bacche ki maa banne wali hoon is my favourite maa-wallah dialogue. The role of the maa has been slightly sidelined these days, but am sure they will be back with a bang like they were in the 70s and the 80s. My vote for the best maa goes to Rakhiji in Karan Arjun. She was pragmatic yet very maa-like.
I am a typical maa ka ladla, but I am not all that bigda hua. For a long time, my friends in college would tease me by calling me mama’s boy! And I loved it. I miss my mother who is no more. I share every little achievement or problem with her when we have the ‘talk’ every night before I fall asleep.
— Arjun Kapoor, actor
Ghar mein maa behen nahin hai kyaIJ is the simplest, most direct yet most meaningful dialogue I have heard. Is there any way else you can question the intentions of a pervertIJ I don’t think so. There are many lines from Bollywood that stick with you but the ones around a maa are always remembered.
Nargis is the quintessential maa but in the modern format, I think, Reema lagoo is splendid. Nowadays, mothers are not the typical becharis as they were portrayed years ago. Today, the mother is stylish, has her own life and doesn’t mind having negative shades. The role has changed to keep pace with the changing mores.
My mother, till date, is my best friend and confidante. I feel jittery if a week has passed and I haven’t seen my mom.
— Karan Johar, director/producer
Akhtar dotes on mere paas maa hai
When the talk is about the quintessential maa in B-town, how can one forget the iconic dialogue which was recently voted the most popular dialogue in Hindi cinema ever (the poll was conducted by a popular magazine in January, 2013). Javed Akhtar is proud to be associated with the mere paas maa hai line from the 1979 superhit Deewar. But the writer-lyricist says he has cut the umbilical chord with many of his other dialogues long back.
“I am a staunch believer of moving on. Attachment is not the most desirable thing. A piece of writing is like a child you have created. With time, that child becomes an adult and develops a personality all his own. Just like how you would not take credit for your child’s achievements, you don’t, do so for your dialogues too,” Akhtar says.
There have been times when Akhtar hears a song composed by him earlier and doesn’t remember it’s written by him. “It becomes embarrassing when you compliment a song and its composer without realising it is you who created it. But that is what my relationship with my songs is. Many people don’t believe me but it’s true,” he tells you.
Having said that, Akhtar doesn’t deny that there is something about mere paas maa hai which makes him come back to this dialogue, every once in a while.
“Salim and I knew we had to come up with something very dramatic for the scene where the brothers were meeting for the last time. We created 534 lines for this moment before mere paas.... came to our mind. It was almost spiritual, as if the line presented itself to us. Both of us were quite pleased and so was the director but none of us had imagined that this punchline would be used in so many more films, theatre, speeches, comedy circuits etc,” Akhtar tells you.
Akhtar says this line, when used by AR Rahman in his Oscar speech became most special. “He just didn’t use the line for the heck of it. I know how close Rahman is to his mother. Woh shabd uske dil se nikle thhe. And that is what made it so beautiful,” he tells you.
Akhtar lost his mother on his eight birthday. Safia Akhtar was a writer and a voracious reader while his father Jan Nisar Akhtar was a poet. “I was a keen learner in school but when my mother was alive, I remember, I was very eager to come back home to her. She would often narrate a novel to me. She knew how to spice things up. I loved listening to her voice, her way of story-telling which was very intriguing. She died at my maternal grandfather’s home in lucknow and I was brought up by my aunt, but I wonder if anyone can substitute a mother’s bond,” Akhtar says.