India, June 4 -- Three women and a body in the house. On paper, Maa Behen sounds like a recipe tailor-made for outrageous fun. But the film is far from being just another comic thriller, and that's where it earns a few brownie points.

Suresh Triveni, who previously directed Tumhari Sulu, returns with another quirky premise. Rekha (Madhuri Dixit), a single mother, calls her two daughters, Jaya and Sushma, in the middle of the night with alarming news: their neighbour Gupta (Ravi Kishan) is lying dead on the floor of their house. What follows is a frantic attempt by the trio to figure out what to do next.

The world-building is one of the film's strengths. Triveni understands the nuances of his characters and their surroundings. For instan...