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There’s a lovely informality to Marathi that doesn’t preclude respect. Children and elders alike can be addressed as “tu” rather than “tumhi” once familiarity has been established. The Marathi show Aga Aai Aaho Aai turns on this hallmark of the language and Maharashtrian culture.

The title of Varun Narvekar’s engaging series on Zee5 loosely translates as “Dear Mother, Dear Mother”, but the differences lies in the emphasis. The birth mother is always “aga” while the mother-in-law is the more formal “aaho”. Shreya (Hruta Durgule), who’s recently married Anish (Suyog Gorhe), is discovering the nuances of this distinction one snafu at a time.

While Shreya and Anish live by themselves in Pune, they frequently run into their respective parents and the extended family. Shreya’s mother Janaki (Renuka Shahane) is put out that Shreya has already warmed to her mother-in-law Sunita (Nirmiti Sawant). It’s hard not to, given that Sunita is the kind of woman whom you want to tightly hug at first sight.

Not that Janaki, with her dancing eyes and wide smile, is any less affectionate. So when Shreya blurts out that Sunita is her second mother, Janaki is upset.

The stage is set for a soap opera about competitive matriarchs trying to out-barb each other. That stage remains empty...

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