Kajol on horror film 'Maa': Hollywood has superheroes, Bollywood has fierce mums in saris

Dubai: In film school, they often say there are three things you should never work with: husbands, kids, or animals — the logic being that it never ends well. But Kajol has never played by the book, and she’s certainly not about to start now.

“We’ve been married for so long — 26 years — that tag of ‘I can’t work with my husband’ doesn’t work anymore,” she says matter-of-factly, referring to Ajay Devgn, the producer of her latest film Maa.

“If I have an issue, I’ll sort it. If he does, he’ll sort it. Most of the time on set, we’re both super professional — very time-bound, very obsessed with work.”

She’s also quick to give credit where it’s due. “I’ll go on record to say that he’s a fantastic producer,” she adds. “We’ve really come together and made a good film. That’s always been our aim.”

In Maa, Kajol plays a mother forced to confront a deep, ancient evil — and she does it while carrying the full force of feminine mythological power.

“I think your 14-year-old daughter is going to have a fabulous time,” she says when I mention I plan to take my daughter along. “She really needs to know what Indian mythology is all about.”

For Kajol, stories like these are not new — they’re ancient.

“Our country has such fabulous culture. We just have such a colourful oral tradition,” she says. “Long before Marvel found their comics, we had all these stories. They just wore different clothes in our stories.”

The crux of Maa, she explains, lies in the divine feminine — a theme that runs through her performance. “I love the fact that we have a divine feminine. When the gods cannot face it anymore, they have to call on the mother goddess to come and save them. That is unique to our culture.”

And while the film taps into high drama and mythology, it also sneaks in some refreshing realism — like a scene in the trailer where menstruation is mentioned without euphemism or shame. “We didn’t set out to do that,” she admits.

“But yes, it’s one of the parts of the film. When women are discussing it between themselves, we crack jokes on it… It’s just such a normal thing. Why can’t we speak about it in that same vein when we show it on screen as well?”

When I joke about how annoying it is to hear a man ask, “Is it that time of the month?”, she doesn’t miss a beat. “Men are trained by now to know that that is a really bad question to ask. It’s highly politically incorrect and very triggering.”

Kajol brings the same honesty to discussing motherhood. “Definitely, no two ways about it,” she says when I call her a ‘tiger mom’. “And I think every mother is. As soon as they become mothers, women have this… I don’t know whether it’s instinct or a superpower inside them that makes them almost inhuman in the amount of energy that the child consumes. Physically depleted, emotionally depleted, sleep-deprived, hormonally compromised… and we still manage to go through the first two years and retain our sanity. They’re alive, they’re thriving, they’re eating well — done a decent job on it!”

But don’t mistake Maa for a sentimental film. It’s squarely in the horror genre — a tricky space for Bollywood — and Kajol is fully aware of the stakes. “You can’t just think that I’m gonna make a horror and have no production value… That time is over,” she says firmly.

“Whether it’s horror, action, or drama — you need a tight script, you need excellent VFX, all of it. And I’m very, very proud to say that the VFX of this particular film is absolutely amazing and done by our company as well.”

She leans in, clearly excited. “You’ve seen the trailer, but the movie is infinity scarier.”

In one of the film’s pivotal moments, her character is directly challenged — not by a ghost, but by a question designed to cut deep.

“There’s a scene in the film where the evil comes out to her and says, ‘You’re just a weak woman. Do you think you can fight me?’” she recounts.

“And I do think the film is about finding faith — not just good versus evil, but faith versus evil. And that faith is in the mother… and in yourself as well.”

Kajol has been part of the film industry for over three decades, and she knows unpredictability is baked into the business.

“We’re always flying blind,” she says. “There is no formula, and there never has been. Some films have every ingredient you think will make a hit — and still, they don’t work.”

What’s changed, she notes, is the economics. “The amount of money being pumped into a film has grown exponentially. So it’s no longer economically efficient to take too many risks. Not everyone can afford to fail.”

The fear onscreen might be supernatural, but offscreen, Kajol is concerned about very real dangers — especially for women. “We all worry about it. We all stress about it,” she says. “When my daughter goes out, I’m like, ‘Call me. Tell me where you’re going. What time will you be back.’ It’s become routine now. These are the safety regulations we have to follow, world over.”

Still, she believes cinema has a role to play in shaping conversations. “Movies can influence certain aspects of society, but most of the time we’re just reflecting it. For real change to happen, it takes a lot more. A spark has to become a conflagration. It has to become a fire.”

After 34 years in front of the camera, Kajol remains discerning and deliberate about her choices. “I have worked very hard to make sure that each and every film I do is something I can stand behind. I have picked and chosen with great care. Your work speaks for you much more than anything else.”

Before signing off, she leaves me — and audiences — with a final nudge: “Let’s go out there and push it, please. Ma is releasing on June 27. I’m super happy with the product. Go ahead and give me your review.”

Maa is out in UAE cinemas on June 27