Brief

Ila, a Mumbai-based teenager, is going nuts with Veena, her controlling, single mother who prevents her from stalking her pop idol, Ali Zafar. Veena wants her daughter to date real guys in the lead-up to finding a husband. But Ila decides that the only way to get her mom off her back is by finding her a boyfriend instead. With the help of her best friend Deepali, her crush Dev and her mother’s best friend Maleeka, they will come up with a plan to make it happen by setting up a profile in dating apps.

What We Liked

Operation Mom is a humorous fiction young adult story filled with twists and clever lines that will keep the audience entertained. The plot of a girl trying to redirect her overly involved mom’s focus, just so she can stalk her pop idol, makes for an amusing storyline, along with the presence of fascinating characters. This narrative is also full of witty remarks. It’s set in contemporary India and features a wide range of ethnicities spread throughout Mumbai and natural integration of technology and pop culture references.

Film: Operation Mom would also make a great rom-com about Ila’s journey to find her mom a date along with the mother-daughter relationship. It’s also a compelling visual story that takes place in Mumbai with local descriptions, exploring the beating heart of the town, as well as portraying its people with authenticity while still subverting some traditional conventions.

TV: Operation Mom would make a great TV show. The mother-daughter relationship story has elements of comedy, romance, suspense, and puzzles. As you gradually get involved in the story, it will raise many questions: Will Ila be able to find the right match for her mom? Is her mother going to accept her plan? How does Ila’s idea spice up her own life? Ila connects with several characters trying to set a date for her mom; her journey can be divided into several episodes that explore different aspects of each character.

Key points:
Strong female characters.
Witty dialogue.
Unnatural theme.
Plot twist.
International feature production.

Synopsis

Ila is a 17-year-old girl who's obsessed with Ali Zafar, a teen pop idol. The only thing she wants is to be able to track him down without her mother, Veena, constantly bugging her about it. So Deepali, Ila's best friend, suggested that Ila tries to find a life and a man for her mother, a freelance journalist who was always working.

They would arrange several dates for her without her being aware, setting up her profile on different dating apps. Due to Veena's lack of sex appeal, they are worried that nobody would be interested in her, so they would need Dev, one of Deepali's three boyfriends and Ila's secret crush, to help them with his writing skills.

Dev helped Ila set up Veena's profile on all the four major dating apps under the name Venus. It was when Deepali told Ila that she was dumping Dev because he was a perfectly good guy. Too good for her that every time he was around, she delved into a huge inferiority complex. It was just an excuse since she knew that Ila was in love with him and Dev was also interested in her.

Working in the apps, Ila came across different profiles, and some of them they chose to scope out. Most of them were weird, creepy, or had some red flags. At the same time, as Ila was going more into researching a man for her mom and being closer to Dev, she realized she was barely thinking about Ali Zafar anymore.

It was when they decided to arrange a blind date with one of the men from the apps, named Colonel Jhunjuhnvala. With the help of Aunty Maleeka, Veena's best friend, they planned to tell Veena that Maleeka was going on this date, but she wanted Veena to be there to make her feel comfortable. The only way to make Veena going with her was to invite Ila's father, to who Veena was separated and had a great relationship. They would have a double date, but Veena had no idea it would be her meeting Colonel Jhunjuhnvala. On the day, a confusing situation was installed, and in the end, Veena took the initiative to introduce Colonel Jhunjuhnvala to Aunty Maleeka, saying that she was actually his blind date.

Ila thought that Veena was mad with her for planning a date without her consent, but as a writer, Veena believed that the story would make an excellent screenplay. In the end, Veena said she was going to lose weight, enrolling in the flamenco class. And the presence of Pops (Ila's father) in her life was already enough. It was clear to Ila: Veena already had a life and a man. It was time to pivot from Operation Mom to Operation Dev.

About The Author

Reenita Malhotra Hora is a journalist, native of Mumbai, and currently based in Hong Kong, where she presents Radio Television Hong Kong’s award-winning storytelling show, ‘Asian Threads.’ Reenita has authored seven books (on health, personal finance, and fiction) and has multiple years of experience in the USA and Asia media, entertainment, communications, tech/innovation, and wellness industries.