Every time a social media influencer is cast in an acting project, questions arise whether they landed the gig for their acting capability or the million online followers they have amassed. “Maine proper exam diya hai,” quipped popular content creator Dharna Durga, insisting that she didn’t take any shortcut to landing Maa Behen.

In Netflix’s crime comedy, directed by Suresh Triveni, Durga plays the younger, mischievous daughter of Madhuri Dixit Nene’s Rekha.

The actor recalled, “I gave one audition in Delhi. Then I did another round in Mumbai, where Suresh sir gave me directions on how to do the scene. I was never told, ‘We have seen your social media profile, and you are chosen.’ I was given a scene and told, ‘We want to see if you can pull it off.’ What I do on Instagram is also acting. So, it’s not that I have been selected on the basis of my following.”

After grabbing attention with the delightfully cheeky title of their upcoming Netflix film Maa Behen, actors Madhuri Dixit, Triptii Dimri and Dharna Durga, along with director Suresh Triveni, landed in Delhi for a fun and candid conversation at HT City Stars in the City with Sonal Kalra, Chief Managing Editor, Lifestyle & Entertainment, Hindustan Times. Here are some highlights from the session:

For Triptii, sharing screen space with Madhuri was still a pinch-me moment. “This is my second film with ma’am after Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, but we didn’t get much time together then. During Maa Behen, we became friends and I’m very proud of that. Main toh bahut show off karti hoon, ‘Main Madhuri ma’am ko personally jaanti hoon. I talk to her every day’,” she laughed.

Madhuri, meanwhile, revealed that the cast bonded quickly during workshops. “My only rule was: besharam bano. Say whatever you want to each other. We had so much fun and I think that translated onscreen.”

Before the camaraderie came the casting challenge. As director Suresh Triveni put it, “The biggest question was, ‘Maa kaun banegi?’”

Recalling how Madhuri signed on, he said, “We narrated the script to her in August 2024. Me and my writer overacted like hell and used all our advertising tricks. In the end, she said, ‘I’m doing it’. After that, she became my trump card. With Triptii, it was, ‘Madhuri Dixit has said yes’. With Dharna, I just said ‘Madhuri’ and she was in.”

Dharna readily agreed: “I was so excited and nervous when I met Madhuri ma’am, like any die-hard fan would be. She said hi to me and I was like, ‘Whoa!’”

While Madhuri has played mothers onscreen before, this one felt refreshingly different. “I have grown-up kids of my own, so there was never any hesitation,” she said. What sealed the deal was the character’s unpredictability. “We always put mothers on a pedestal. Here (in Maa Behen) she says, ‘Agar main jail gayi toh tum dono ko saath mein lekar jaungi.’ I loved that!”

- DHARNA DURGA

It’s hard to build a successful four-decade career like Madhuri Dixit Nene’s in the film industry. Harder even to do so in a country where female stars, as they age, are constantly judged for their appearance. A recent example was the brutal trolling of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as she walked the Cannes red carpet. When we sat down with Dixit, ahead of the release of her next, Maa Behen, the actor rued that women have no respite from “sexism and ageism.”

“There is sexism and ageism everywhere. Even when you meet people after a long time, they make personal comments like, ‘You have become so fat. Your hair has become so grey.’ But one cannot forget the contribution of the person, and what they have done in the past. You don’t know what’s happening in their lives or maybe they are happy the way they are. Accept people the way they are; remember what she [Rai] represents rather than commenting on her size or age,” asserted Dixit, as she defended Rai.

Dixit has little patience for unsolicited opinions or skewed beauty standards. Instead, she is focusing on what gives her joy — unheard stories and roles that show her versatility. Maa Behen fits right in that plan.

“I had not done comedy in some time. The past few offerings were more dramatic, whether it’s Mrs Deshpande [2025], Maja Ma [2022], or The Fame Game [2022]. I thought this is the right time for comedy,” she said of director Suresh Triveni’s feature.

The Netflix film also stars content creator Dharna Durga. Madhuri Dixit Nene revealed that during the workshops, she ensured that the relative newcomer felt comfortable.

“When I met her the first time, she said, ‘Mujhse nahin hoga,’ with tears in her eyes. I told her to not cry and said, ‘I am also an actor, here to create some magic on the set. Let’s work together.’”

After Jalsa (2022), director Suresh Triveni was seeking a light-hearted subject. From that wish was born his upcoming film, Maa Behen. Understandably, when Netflix unveiled its teaser in February, what excited everyone was the enviable casting of Madhuri Dixit-Nene and Triptii Dimri. “The casting was obviously ambitious,” admitted Triveni, when talking about his dark comedy that also stars Ravi Kishan and Dharna Durga.

“We wanted to have three terrific women, and we were clear from day one that we would approach Madhuri ma’am for it. She readily agreed in the first narration. So did Triptii, Dharna, and Ravi Kishan. I was fortunate,” he smiled.

In Maa Behen, Dixit plays a free-spirited mother, at odds with her grounded and inhibited elder daughter portrayed by Dimri. As an ardent admirer of the senior actor’s comic timing, the director wanted to see her in the space. “As a viewer, I was dying to see how beautiful Madhuri ma’am is with comedy. We wanted to see her in that comic avatar, and we chased it.”

With the Anil Kapoor-led Subedaar, and Maa Behen, Triveni has collaborated with two of the biggest 1990’s stars. How was the experience? He was left in awe by their appetite to learn.

“Why we call them the OGs is that they are not done yet. They are still learning. For example, we did at least 14 workshop sessions with the three leads together for Maa Behen. Madhuri ma’am showed up. She didn’t say, ‘Since I have done so much work, I don’t need it.’ She learnt the required dialect. These stars aren’t complacent at all.”

Basking in the success of Laapataa Ladies (2023) and his popular OTT show Maamla Legal Hai, actor and parliamentarian Ravi Kishan is all set for his next big project. The actor will soon share screen space with Madhuri Dixit Nene in the upcoming film Ma Behen, which goes on floors in May in Mumbai. The film also stars Triptii Dimri and Dharna Durga.

“Bahut hi adbhut role hai in an entertaining film, and people have never seen me in such a character before,” he shares, brimming with excitement. “Bada rangeen, dilphek, romantic aur rasdaar kirdaar hai yeh!” Directed by Suresh Triveni (Tumhari Sulu fame), the film sees Kishan playing a character from a mohalla who is a big admirer of Madhuri Dixit Nene.

When asked if his real-life admiration for Madhuri will reflect on screen, Ravi laughs, “Madhuri ji has been such a big superstar, and we’ve all admired her for decades. It’s a great feeling. I had the opportunity to work with Sridevi ji, but never with Madhuri ji — so this is a big charm, saubhagya hai ki unke saath kaam karna. Triptii, India’s new sensation, is also part of the film, so God-willing, it’ll be a beautiful project.”

Ravi, who describes himself as being in the best phase of his career, adds, “Laapataa Ladies became a massive hit, and Maamla Legal Hai was widely loved. The industry now sees me as a capable actor. After 34 years of hard work, good scripts and big banners are finally coming my way.”

Reflecting on his journey of over 750 films, he muses, “Log chal kar aate hain, main reng kar aaya hoon, but it’s been anand wala safar.”

Currently, Ravi is working on several high-profile projects, including Son of Sardaar 2, the Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai film, Maamla Legal Hai Season 2 and Dhamaal 3, before diving into Ma Behen. On balancing acting and politics, he says, “Yes, I can manage both my constituency work and shooting well. I am grateful to my party for the liberty they give me. In my second term as an MP, I have also put up the most questions in Parliament.

Recently, actor Sunny Leone used social media to react to a parody video of herself where her accent was in focus. “I don’t think I sound like a valley girl… but nice one ladies (sic),” she commented on influencer Dharna Durga’s post, where the latter was seen imitating the actor from the reality show Splitsvilla.

“My name is bigger than my accent. People like me as a person, which is amazing. I’m happy for that. I have built a reputation of being very professional, and I plan to keep it that way,” says Leone.

“I can’t do anything about my accent. And all around the world, everybody makes fun of people’s accents. Americans make fun of certain accents. Here, people make fun of mine,” says the actor, who grew up in Canada, and shifted base to India after her Bollywood debut, Jism 2 (2012).

“If someone wants to make fun of me, it’s totally okay with me. All I know is that I would never make fun of them because of their accent, because that’s my philosophy in life,” says the Ek Paheli Leela (2015) and Ragini MMS Returns (2017) actor.

“What pushed me to respond to this influencer was that I thought it was funny. I don’t necessarily think I sound like a valley girl (a cultural stereotype denoting an affluent and spoilt young Californian woman). It’s her version of who she feels I am. I watch these parodies and people making fun of me, and think that if an influencer thinks I’m special enough to make fun of, then amazing,” the 41-year-old says, adding that she enjoys such content but doesn’t go looking for it. “If somebody sends it to me, I watch and I get a chuckle out of it,” quips Leone.