Mamma Mafia

Maal tera, market mera (The stuff is yours, the market is mine). It’s the kind of thing drug bosses say. But in Narcos Thane, sorry Dabba Cartel, it’s the women who say it, And what an assortment of women it is: there is an old, never smiling Ba (Shabana Azmi); a young wife trying hard to share her husband’s dream of moving to Germany (Shalini Pandey); a feisty domestic who wants a better life for her daughter (Nimisha Sajayan); a career woman who gave up her work after her child was born (Jyothika); and a real estate bro­ker out to make a quick buck (Anjali Anand). Each of them has a different reason to get involved in the drug business, some led by desperation, others by ambi­tion. The dabba business begins by distributing marijuana, gradu­ates to MDMA, and more. There is a pharma angle, a connection to Punjab, and a relationship between two women that goes back 20 years. Sajayan and Jyotika are excellent and refreshingly so in unusual roles, Sajayan as a rough hewn, tough talking work­ing class woman, and the latter as a polished, poised lady of leisure. The men are all heels, except for Gajraj Rao who brings quirky dignity to his role of a pharma inspector. It’s the netherworld beneath the world we see around us.

Anjali AnandDabba CartelentertainmentHitesh BhatiaJyothikaNimisha SajayanShabana AzmiShalini Pandeystreaming business