'Maa Behen': How Suresh Triveni's Netflix Hit Began Post 'Tumhari Sulu', Survived the Pandemic, and Finally Reached Madhuri Dixit

After a relentless last few years spent serving as a showrunner on Daldal and directing two films back-to-back — Prime Video's whistle-worthy mass drama Subedaar and Netflix's latest buzzy dark comedy-thriller Maa Behen— filmmaker Suresh Triveni is finally catching up on all his lost sleep.

"But truth be told, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything because it has been the most fulfilling journey," says Triveni.

The creator is having a sensational 2026, as Maa Behen, led by Madhuri Dixit, Triptii Dimri, and Dharna Durga, has opened to universal acclaim.

The film follows the story of a dysfunctional mother-daughter trio who suddenly find themselves in the middle of a nightmare situation.

The film's journey, leading up to its streaming debut on Thursday, was no less dramatic, as the project battled a massive writing block, a global pandemic, and persistent casting doubts.

Fresh off the acclaim and success of the sweet, 'goody-goody' cinematic world of the Vidya Balan-led Tumhari Sulu in 2017, Triveni suddenly found himself craving a total shift into revenge mode.

"I wanted to write a crazy, dark comedy centered around women, and the title Maa Behen just flashed in my head. I had this single narrative thread and just started running with it."

Triveni notes that he does not naturally possess a "highly structured writing pattern," so he simply began writing the pages and pitched the core concept to Vikram Malhotra of Abundantia Entertainment, who loved it and wanted to back the idea. Charged with the initial rush of a crackling concept, Triveni wrote the first draft, but somewhere along the way, he hit a massive roadblock and got completely stuck.

Right around that time during the pandemic, he happened to connect with screenwriter Pooja Tolani, whose credits include Sacred Games and Lust Stories.

"We had never actually met in person, but she had sent me a separate script of hers to read. While discussing that, I randomly asked her to take a look at whatever pages I had managed to scrape together for Maa Behen. Pooja came on board in 2020. I hadn't even told her the title of the film initially, but I think she was instantly hooked by the sheer energy of the premise," Triveni says.

Tolani read the draft and saw a distinct potential. The filmmaker resonated deeply with her writing pattern and the creative samples she had shared. Consequently, they started jamming in the middle of a global pandemic, entirely unsure of what was waiting on the other side or "if we'd ever get to make films again."

However, the timelines stretched because Triveni had already committed to directing Jalsa. By the time he was free, the script was completely locked and ready, but the team then hit a massive conversation regarding the casting logic. Who would play the mother? Who would play the daughters?

"Long before, during one of our early brainstorming sessions, I had mentioned to Pooja that I envisioned Madhuri Dixit in the film as the character Rekha," Triveni recalls.

"Pooja actually had to remind me of that conversation because we had never formally approached her. In our industry, there is often this massive echo chamber of people telling you, 'No, no, she won't do this kind of film, let's look at other options.' So we hesitated, and it took a back seat for a while."

But in 2024, Triveni decided to fight the apprehensions and told himself: "I want to go to Madhuri directly. If it's a no, let me hear that 'no' from her firsthand."

Before the narration, Tolani and Triveni went back to the text and the former completely restructured the entire screenplay and the dialogues.

"It was all brand-new material; I think there is only one specific one-on-one scene that actually survived from my original draft. Most of it changed, and honestly, it changed for the better. We went and gave the narration to Madhuri, and the moment she said yes, everything fell into place perfectly. It has been a phenomenal journey, and Pooja has displayed the absolute maximum patience with me through it all," he added.