Maa Ka Sum Review: Mona Singh and Mihir Ahuja’s show gets lost between algorithm and emotion

Maa Ka Sum is that one maths problem that refuses to be solved, leaving you confused about the value of X.

OTT has become a space where there is freedom to experiment with scripts, the transformation of the creative landscape is endless. While it has opened doors for diverse stories that one can feel connected with, this freedom has also led to some shows that make you wonder why they were even needed. Amazon’s Maa Ka Sum is out, and it’s one of those series that shows so much, covers so much, and tells so much, but in the end gets entangled in the ‘so much’ stuff that it presents, leaving you questioning the need and motive of this story.

Mona Singh is on a roll in her career and has been delivering back-to-back hits, or if not hits, then performances that have made her the talk of social media. In this new show, she plays the role of an ultra-cool mother, Vinita, aka Vinnie, who lives with her 19-year-old son, Agastya, aka Gast (Mihir Ahuja). With the story of a mother-son bond taking the centre stage, the show becomes too heavy on maths and ends up confusing itself in its own formula.

Maa Ka Sum: What’s the story

Set in the capital of India, New Delhi, the show revolves around Vinita, a super-cool mother living with her 19-year-old son, Agastya, whom everyone lovingly calls Gast. He is a self-proclaimed maths genius, and everything in his life runs on formulas. Both are living with the trauma of how Vinita’s husband and Gast’s father left one day, abandoning them. Twelve years after he walked out, they have built a life for themselves where they share everything with each other. Vinita is on dating apps and goes on random dates to find a partner, and Gast, who goes to college and has a fun life with his friends, wants to build a dating app that helps his mother find the perfect match.

To crack that equation, he works on multiple algorithms and is pretty confident that he can find the perfect match for his mom using his calculations and data. How will he be able to do it? It's totally on him. Apart from finding that one perfect man for his single mother, Gast also has a group of friends and a maths teacher who help him understand the complex bonds of humans, something that doesn’t really need an algorithm to solve.

Maa Ka Sum: The maths lingo that refuses to be solved

The eight-episode drama explores a variety of themes, including a modern mother-son bond, trauma, relationships, love, and anger. But the makers try to solve everything like a maths problem that refuses to end, confusing you at every step.

Still from Maa Ka Sum Photograph: (Amazon Prime)

Directed by Nicholas Kharkongar, the series, in the simplest terms, is a comment on how human emotions cannot be cracked with any sort of algorithm in this technological and data-driven world, especially when AI is the next big thing that humans have to deal with.

The show starts with a fun and happy bond between the son and mother, who are not like any usual parent-child duo. There is nothing hidden from each other; they go on random outings, deeply involved in each other’s lives, they have arguments, they have differences, but like modern things, they understand each other. It all, in the beginning, feels fresh and entertaining and enjoyable too. But soon, when Gast’s obsession with maths to solve that one algorithm takes over, it starts to feel irritating and tough to understand where the story is heading.

Still from Maa Ka Sum Photograph: (Amazon Prime)

In attempting to cover too much, the show loses clarity. Along with this, the side narratives, like Gast and his Gen Z pals, feel like a set-up without offering anything natural.

I did like how casually the writers have touched upon unprotected sex and the risk of abortion. Also, Gast’s bond with his foreign return maths teacher, Ira, played by Angira Dhar, who is equally a maths fanatic, never quite impresses. Their long, maths-infused conversations make you want to skip ahead, often leaving you distracted.

The story might get confusing with each episode, but the characters are fairly well-formed. The women in the show stand out, they are clear about what they want. Mona Singh, who rarely disappoints, plays the role of a young mother convincingly. The way she balances her protective side while hiding her vulnerability. I also enjoyed her scenes with Ranveer Brar, who plays a cool investor. Angira Dhar, as the modern, foreign-return teacher, is effective in parts.

Still from Maa Ka Sum Photograph: (Amazon Prime)

Mihir Ahuja also delivers a strong performance as a young boy dealing with trauma and his passion for maths.

As the story progresses, it becomes overcomplicated, especially with the heavy use of maths and algorithms in every dialogue, which is very hard to understand. The parallel plots don’t feel organic. With three different generations colliding in a world dominated by Gen Z culture and the ultra-modern side of Delhi, some moments felt amusing, like a mother telling her son he’s only allowed to drink more than two beers.

Maa Ka Sum is a story that breathes, lives, and eats maths with the entertainment only in parts.