Storyline: Maaran, which is a Gujarati film, is based on the illegal business of flesh trade. The story takes place in a fictitious village called Vaadi. Supplying girls is the main business for Ratan (Yash Soni) but he keeps it in the shadows. For the world, he works as a security guard in a posh tower in the city outside the village. Ratan lives with Birwa (Deeksha Joshi), who he had abducted five years ago. The girl’s younger sister Purva (Tarjani Bhadla) has been searching relentlessly for her.

Ratan and Birwa’s life goes through some change when the former’s friend and acquaintance Babu (Shruhad Goswami) abducts Urmi (Prachi Thaker), who turns out to be a tough girl. Meanwhile, Ratan eyes Tara (Druma Mehta), who stays in the tower he works at, as his next target.

Review: Maaran throws light on the horrific social reality of India about lakhs of girls going missing in the last few years after being abducted and taken into flesh trade. The film instantly gets you involved in the murky and dark world of Vaadi in a bold manner.

You do get surprised seeing Birwa live in with Ratan at the start despite being kidnapped by the latter. But this aspect is explained later and it is quite convincing. However, Urmi not being disturbed and traumatized despite being kidnapped recently is difficult to believe.

The film scores while showing a parallel track of a woman even from a wealthy family being in danger of being dragged into the flesh trade. The screenplay finely mixes the various tracks and is brisk in pace.

The only other point of concern is that they could have gone into some details on how this entire illegal business works. This would have made the viewers more familiar with the subject.

The characters of Ratan and Babu are not portrayed as typical negative characters despite them being important cogs in the wheel of the flesh trade. Somehow, some light is thrown on their human side without making them subjects of sympathy.

The large amount of credit for this also goes to Yash Soni and Suhrad Goswami. Yash has an image of a good boy. He sheds that identity here and how! He is thoroughly convincing as the rough and evil Ratan. Suhrad has also derived a divine image of Lord Krishna after Laalo – Krishna Sada Sahayate. He too comes out of it and provides a believable act as a ruffian immersed in flesh trade. But at the same time, both actors also subtly switch over to their human side.

The film also equally belongs to Deeksha Joshi who comes up with an award winning act. Her character goes through various emotions and moods and she fulfils each challenge with ease. She is particularly heart-breaking in the pre-climax and climax. Prachi Thaker suits the character of Urmi. Trajani Bhadla’s performance grows with the film. Druma Mehta is perfectly cast as the sophisticated lady.

The technicalities also rise on the occasion in the form of the cinematography (Pratik Parmar), editing (Omkar Nilange, Harsh Anandani and Devarshi Barot) and music (Aalap-Parth).

But Maaran is much deeper than just a film about a heinous crime against women. It also brings forth the stigma attached to the girls who have been rescued from flesh trade to such an extent that their own families refuse to accept them even after they are rescued. The tag of being ‘impure’ attached to them is a deep result of patriarchy. This victim-blaming and victim-shaming makes you wonder if these families are as guilty as the perpetrators of the flesh trade.

Overall: Maaran is a hard-hitting saga on flesh trade and the society’s tendency to shame the victims.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Director: Abhishek Jain

Producers: CineMan Productions

Writers: Divya Thakore

Cast: Yash Soni, Deeksha Joshi, Shruhad Goswami, Prachi Thaker, Tarjani Bhadla, Druma Mehta

Also read: Ikka review: Sunny Deol and Akshaye Khanna starrer is a one-time watch courtroom drama

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