MAHARANI 3: A befitting revenge saga and an ode to the upcoming Women’s Day.

MAHARANI 3: A befitting revenge saga and an ode to the upcoming Women’s Day.

Darker and deeper exploration of justice and revenge in myriad hues.

The dance of democracy and conspiring political games in the state of Bihar got a new face in the flagship series of Sony LIV platform – Maharani, centered around the foray and rise of a barely literate woman in politics under extraordinary circumstances.

The last season had culminated with the murder of Bhima Bharti (Sohum Shah) by the cartel of his opposition party leaders and Rani Bharti (Huma Qureshi) was wrongly accused of the crime. While she was unjustly imprisoned for three years, she had also sworn revenge against the perpetrators.

Season 3 ticks off from there – the state is under the regime of Bhima’s greatest enemy, Naveen Kumar (Amit Sial) and his cabinet comprising Gauri Babu (Vineet Kumar), Prem Kumar (Aashique Hussain) Dulari Yadav (Sukumar Tudu) and others. An unprecedented attack of Rani Bharti’s kids and Mishra ji(Pramod Pathak) followed by a sudden death of Dulari sets things on a frenzy. Who is behind the attack? On reports, Dulari succumbed to heart attack but who actually killed him when their prime nemesis is serving prison?

Maharani, under the aegis of director Saurabh Bhave and creator Subhash Kapoor, gets deeper and darker with the exploration of complex shades of revenge and conspiracies. What I particularly liked about this season is the footage given to the supporting characters and the parallel stories to propel the narrative while staying faithful to its emotional core. While the narrative sticks to Rani Bharti’s quest of proving her innocence to her constituency, the rise of the foreign liquor mafia and the humongous number of deaths in the state by its consumption sparks a chapter of enmity between Kunwar Singh (Sushil Pandey) and Dilshad (Danish Iqbal), primarily maneuvered by Gauri. Kirti Singh (Anuja Sathe) walks a redemptive path, and Rani faces a blow of hostility from his elder son who thinks her to have murdered his father. The pace however slacks in the last two episodes, the momentum, and the energy in the intrigue drops.

Given the weightage to the ensemble, the actors perform to their full potential. It was nice to see Sushil Pandey humanizing the beast Kunwar and Sukumar exploring the wings of whimsy in Dulari. Seasoned actors like Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Vineet Kumar and Aashique add sheen to the writing material by Subhash and Nandan Shah. But the brightest spot goes to the talented Amit Sial who approaches his character with immense calibrations and perceptiveness. Naveen Kumar is a jackal – says Rani Bharti in a scene. Amit just embodies that in spirit, with an eloquent diction and does to the sharp dialogues by Umashankar Singh.

And to give credit where due, Maharani 3 rests on the shoulders of Huma. By now, the actress has completely immersed herself into the terrain where her grammar and demeanor look immaculate with respect to the milieu. Huma is restrained this time, but still a firebrand consumed by the drive for avenging her husband’s murder and beyond the moral compassing. Kanui Kusruti is another talented performer who just remains alongside Huma in almost every frame. Her Kaveri Sreedharan also picks the tricks of the game, and though she is into the murky game, she is sanitized in her thoughts.

Maharani Season 3 – it serves as a befitting revenge saga and an ode to the upcoming Women’s Day.

Maharani is produced by Kangra Talkies and streaming on Sony LIV from 7th March 2024.

 

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