Sakshi Tanwar, last seen in the digital film Dial 100 (2021), takes centrestage in the Netflix web-series Mai (2022). The actress plays a middle-class woman, Sheel Chaudhary, who is a wife, mother and volunteer nurse.
Sheel's world is rocked when her daughter Supriya (Wamiqa Gabbi) is murdered before her very eyes. Suddenly, she finds herself obsessed with why and mired in a dark path of violence, crime and power from which there is no return.
The crime drama and thriller has been produced by Karnesh Ssharma of Clean Slate Filmz and co-directed by Anshai Lal and Atul Mongia. The latter, who makes his directorial debut, is also writer and showrunner on the series. Mai stems from Mongia’s own experiences.
“Since childhood, [I have seen] my mother wake up before the crack of dawn and toil till she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer,” Mongia said. “While dabbling in multiple side careers, she lived her entire life for her family, a feature not uncommon to Indian mothers. Just like my mother, despite the many ups and downs in life, Mai retains her sanctity by shunning the world outside of her family. But what if her existence were to cross paths with an extremely dire and appalling circumstance?
“Mai takes the concept of the homely, caring, traditional Indian mother of popular Indian television and Hindi cinema and pits it against the existence of the Machiavellian world out there, forcing her, and us, to challenge our belief systems,” he added.
Producer Karnesh Ssharma said, “Mai tells a gripping yet emotional story of a strong mother’s journey. Sheel is a multifaceted character who fights to overcome everything and everyone in her way to avenge her daughter, all while holding on to her vulnerability, which enables audiences to relate and connect to her in a more meaningful way.
"The viewers are going to witness a layered narrative that is full of twists and turns, showcasing how far a mother will go for love and in search of the truth,” he added.
The rest of the ensemble cast includes Vivek Mushran, Anant Vidhaat, Raima Sen, Ankur Ratan, Prashant Narayan, Vaibhav Raj Gupta and Seema Pahwa.
Mai will be premiered on Netflix on 15 April. Watch the trailer below and let us know if you are keen to see the web-series.