Swipe Left or Right: ‘Maa Ka Sum’ Tries Figure Out If You Can Find Your Perfect Match in the Age of Algorithms
- The new Amazon Prime series leans into a world where data, compatibility scores, and algorithms promise to make even love, predictable.
Amazon Prime’s new series, “Maa Ka Sum,” made me reflect on something we rarely admit: how much of who we show the world isn’t entirely real?
It’s not just a story about algorithms or matchmaking, it’s about the quiet, often uncomfortable gap between how we try to make sense of life and how life actually unfolds. Maybe that’s why it stayed with me. Beneath its premise, I found myself thinking not just about the characters, but about something more familiar: the way we all try, in our own ways, to “solve” things that were never meant to be solved.
Directed by Nicholas Kharkongor and written by Ravinder Randhawa and Sumrit Shahi, “Maa Ka Sum” leans into a world that feels very current, where data, compatibility scores, and algorithms promise to make even love, predictable. Produced by Eunoia Films, the show sits between drama and comedy, though its most compelling moments come when it allows you to reflect on your own life.
At the center is Agastya, played by Mihir Ahuja, a young, brilliant mathematical genius who uses math as a tool that can help him solve all of life’s complex problems. So when it comes to finding a forever partner for his mother, Vinita (Mona Singh), he does what feels natural, builds an algorithm with the help of his teacher, Dr. Ira Raina (Angira Dhar).
But what begins as a clever exercise in logic slowly turns into something far more revealing.
Agastya starts to realize that people don’t exist as clean data sets. On dating apps, they present versions of themselves, adjusted, curated, sometimes unconsciously reshaped to fit what they think will be desirable. Likes and dislikes become flexible. Personalities become performative. What looks like compatibility is often just two projections aligning.
And that’s where the system begins to break.
In the end, “Maa Ka Sum” circles around a question it never fully answers: even if you could build the perfect match on paper, would that actually make you happy?
The show taps into something deeply familiar: the tension between perception and reality. It makes you question how often we’re presenting a version of ourselves designed to be chosen, rather than one that is entirely true. If your favorite food is “chole bhature” why pretend it’s “carbonara”? Is it simply because carbonara feels more refined, more desirable? Closer to the image we think others want from us? And if that’s the case, it’s no surprise that the connections we form don’t always feel real.
We don’t just attract people who match us, we attract people who match the version of us we’ve put forward.
At first, that can feel exciting. Like something shiny that catches your attention. But over time, there’s a quiet dissonance. Something doesn’t settle. It doesn’t feel easy or peaceful. It doesn’t feel like home.
Even when you begin to understand these patterns within yourself, another question lingers: how do you know the other person isn’t doing the same thing?
The characters were well casted in theory, each fitting their roles on paper, but the execution brings out subtle imbalances in chemistry. Mona Singh brings a warmth and grounded presence that gives the story its emotional weight. Mihir Ahuja captures Agastya’s analytical nature with clarity and conviction. However, Ranveer Brar, despite his natural charisma, feels slightly out of sync in a role that demands an effortless emotional connection.
In the end, “Maa Ka Sum” circles around a question it never fully answers: even if you could build the perfect match on paper (every value aligned, every preference accounted for), would that actually make you happy? The show quietly suggests it wouldn’t.
That uncertainty is what makes organic connections feel different. Reality carries something beyond what can be calculated as “perfect.” A sense of calm familiarity, ease, and emotional safety. It’s shaped by subtle alignment in likes and dislikes, communication styles, mutual respect, and an unspoken attraction. These are the small but essential signals that algorithms can’t fully capture or manufacture, yet they often decide whether a connection actually feels right. An intangible “X factor” no algorithm can define and no probability can predict.
Dr. Abha Soni is a young physician new to the Bay Area, who specializes in diagnosing skin diseases. Outside of work, she finds joy in sharing stories about her experiences and attending social and cultural events. She is also passionate about food, beauty/skincare, and travel blogging. Her artistic sensibilities find expression through visual art, music, and singing, which enrich her multifaceted life beyond medicine.