Critical reception Zinia Bandyopadhyay of
India Today gave the film 3.5 stars out of five and said, "The best thing about the film is, undoubtedly, Rani Mukerji’s performance. It is not a light watch, but something that is compelling and emotional. However, by the end, the film feels a bit stretched."
Bollywood Hungama gave the film 3 stars out of five and said, "It is a hard-hitting drama and is laced with the career-best performance of Rani Mukerji." Monika Rawal of
Hindustan Times said, "It remains a true-to-heart account of a gut-wreching story of a mother, but there are so many layers you wish the director dug deeper and explored with the main character."
Sukanya Verma of
Rediff.com said, "Instead of feeling her desperation, despair or extreme acts stemming from a mother's primal need to protect her brood, what comes through is hollow theatrics."
Saibal Chatterjee of
NDTV gave the film 1.5 stars out of five and said, "It is an overheated affair that sucks the air out of an intrinsically moving story that deserved infinitely better." Udita Jhunjhunwala from
Mint Lounge said, "It was hard to root for the Chatterjees in a film that has greater recall as a tear-soaked Bollywood drama than a recreation of a real life human-interest story."
Box office The film collected crore on its opening day with a release on 500 screens. The collections saw a 77.95% jump on the second day with the film collecting . On the third day it earned taking its first weekend collection to . As of 20 April 2023, the film has grossed ₹36.53 crore worldwide with grossing 745K
Norwegian Krones over the weekend, the film has become the
highest grossing Bollywood film in
Norway. It later became the most-watched South Asian film in Norway with 8356 admits.
Response from Norwegian authorities The
Norwegian Embassy in India issued a statement before the release of film: They further wrote that they "sympathize with the affected families, particularly the children. For those involved, there is no denying that such experiences are difficult.″ Following the release of the film, Norwegian Ambassador Hans Jacob Frydenlund criticized the film, stating that "it incorrectly depicts Norway’s belief in family life and our respect for different cultures." This was countered by Sagarika Chakraborty (the real life person on whose ordeal the film is based) who condemned the statements made by him adding, "When the whole world can see the bond between me and my kids, the Norwegian Government continues to spread lies about her without even knowing her story." She also said that she's getting a lot of love from all over the world and people want to come and meet her after the film. Sagarika said that the Indian Government has helped her immensely. In an op-ed piece in the Indian Express, she specifically referred to the issues surrounding children sharing her bed and being fed. Jone Skjelbred, Municipal Manager for children, young people and families in Stavanger municipality said that they ″do not want to comment on the case because none of the people who have worked on this case work for them anymore. As a result, they do not have enough knowledge of the matter.″ Gunnar Toresen, who was head of child protection in Stavanger municipality in 2011, said, ″This is not the story as it happened, but the film probably reflects the violent feelings that the case triggered in the family and in India,″ and points out that serious domestic disturbance calls had led the police to show up at the family's house prior to the decision to remove the children from the home. Sutapa Sen Biswas, the former president of Indian Society of Rogaland, has called the film "misleading" and said it "does not portray reality". She is also critical of the film leaving out the real reasons the children were removed from the home. == Accolades ==