Thanks Maa (2009) User Reviews

a must watch...

[looneytuna · 8/10 · 25 February 2010]

Its film's like these which tell you that movie-making in the land of bollywood is headed in the right direction...

After a myriad of movies with glam star cast and no storyline, here's a movie which has got its priorities right. With a strong storyline and crisp film-making, Thanks Maa is a touching tale based on a relationship which most take for granted-- mother and child. The beauty of the film lies in the way it highlights the issue of abandoning infants, using ironies found rampant in our daily lives. At times the reality it portrays seems a bit too harsh to believe, but overall, the issue is handled beautifully, without making judgements or imposing moralities.

Wonderful performances by Shams and his cronies. (The National Award well deserved in his case.) Superb settings, amazing cinematography. There are moments which the movie could have done without, but then again, it might also have to do with the fact that most scenes and settings shown in the movie are stuff that we, who live above the poverty line, will never have seen or imagined. With settings like these it is easy to often fall prey to stereotyping, but thankfully, Thanks Maa has stayed clear of such mistakes. The dialogues are a little too harsh at times, but emotions run high and its easy to feel for the plight of the children. Maybe a little shaky on the technical front, but overall, this movie is a must watch...

Thought Provoking ...MUST WATCH !!!

[sashinshah-958-807440 · 9/10 · 24 January 2011]

I had seen Slumdog Millionaire and when this movie started I just had a feeling that this too will be something on the same lines. As the movie progresses you get to see the true color of a slum life in Mumbai how kids are forced to get into wrong things and how they get attracted to things they are not suppose to do. THANKS MAA is in honest attempt to bring forth an issue which is let in the corner of some newspaper with no one to follow up or take action about. Child Abolishing is a serious crime but it is equally difficult to trace who is the true criminal behind it. This movie is simple yet to the point, all the actors (you cannot call them actors) are just superficial, one feels like the kids are straight away picked from the street and put in front of the camera. Salman Khan alias Municipality is a rare gem, if he continues acting he can become a big star someday; my other favorite character was "Dedh Futiya" just love of the character and the soul. On an whole this could be one of the most touching story i have ever seen on Indian Cinema. My recommendation ...DONT MISS IT !!!

Language

[rajky-05973 · 8/10 · 3 March 2022]

You should have avoided the abusive words atleast,so that a wide range of audience could have watch this masterpiece.very heart touching and raw form of movie,please make this sort more often.

excellent movie

[rohitpadhee007 · 10/10 · 2 April 2014]

hats off to the movie team . This is a movie which reflects the caring nature of a mother . I hope one day will come where all the women of India are child-caring . Involving in sex before marriage is a sin and most of "today's" so called women indulge in such sinful activities and they end up abandoning the child . There might be other reasons but this is what I know as of now . I request the movie team to make such movies more often until our India is free of child abandonment . This movie is much better than other bollywood movies as the other movies these days mainly contain pornography and that is not a good thing . Thank you Kamal bhai for showing our true India .

Imperfection is what makes "thanks maa" real !!

[barnwalsatyam · 8/10 · 1 March 2014]

Thanks kamal for giving such a brilliant script and direction. No idea, how this movie went unnoticed in 2009. I just started it with the reason time-pass but the time passed away faster than what I had assumed. Movie is all about falling social values, dwelling thinking for different class of societies which they have got against each-other, childhood honesty and increasing traffic of child labor. One thing was clear in the movie- "character can't be determined by the social status value". Although street children's' language are abusive and is full of shits (which obviously because of the environment they get) but at heart they are same as us or in fact better because of less diluteness of the social courtesy. Acting is superb by everyone. Never felt, I'm watching a movie.....it was like its all happening right there, right real. One more admiring thing was bonding between kids. Although they were corrupt because of the environment they get.......but still they were honest as in childhood people use to be. The learning point was that the childhood beggar/thief/pickpocket class should be taken care very carefully by us. Instead of giving money/insult to those kids, we should give something XYZ to mold their character. The XYZ may be anything, I know some (like a little conversation, good books, cloths, affections) but I'm pretty sure you can find better one than mine.

can say a rare cinema

[avinash_me_28 · 9/10 · 22 August 2016]

let me very simple while telling it. this movie is great. there are so many good things to tell about this movie,not going in the details but i have to mention that it will cause you goosebumps at its climax. all the lead characters are effective in their craft. however i personally like sursuri very much. she got such a innocent voice. salman as municipality shows a true mother nature. this movie brings so many issues in very effective story telling manner.Including all the issues through a single thread.while movie brings a lot of emotions, sometimes you feel sad though the interesting characters such as dedh sana and sursuri will make you smile i wonder why irfan kamal is not a famous name in the industry . this man got huge potential.

Greatest of All

[asquashgupta · 10/10 · 18 February 2020]

Please make movies like this ...I have never seen such a good movie in my life.

Okay, It Speaks Volumes. Period. ♦ 44%

[nairtejas · 4/10 · 9 July 2014]

I don't understand the fuss over this film. While it successfully conveys a social message about abandonment of infants by their imbecile producers, this is shoddy filmmaking under the disguise of art.

The worst thing about Thanks Maa is its uncensored & insensitive dialogs. You will find expletives in every other dialog and it plays against the movie-watching experience. Let me remind myself that I am not watching a documentary here. I understand authenticity but the plot often mixes authenticity with non-glamorous audacity and the latter is not what a film samples while touching a topic so raw. It is independent cinema at its vulnerability because the writing is pretty pure, directly coming off the streets of Mumbai.

You may relate with the outright, on-your-face themes, the story so honestly depends on but as a film, it lacks many a points like cinematography, direction and most essentially, the narration. While it manages to deduce elements out of multiple themes (abortion, orphanage, humans in denial, Samaritan-ism, insensitivity, etc..), the cohesion is ineffective. And I see no reason why Indians, with their conservative attitude even when it comes to films, will want to see it.

BOTTOM LINE: The National Award was deserving but as it may seem, Thanks Maa is just a hyped up drama. Watch it if you love documentaries.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? NO

Profanity: Very Critical | Vulgarity/Obscenity: Strong