Maharaj movie review: An important social drama

Maharaj movie review: An important social drama

What: ‘Maharaj’ is the time-agnostic spiritual successor of Bandaa.

“Sochne waalon ki Duniya, duniya ki soch se kitni alag hoti hai”, Karsan Das Mulji retorts his father who officially expresses to disown him, because he goes against a very powerful religious godman, JJ aka Yadunath Maharaj.

Siddharth P Malhotra’s directorial Maharaj, set in Bombay 1842, is the true life-story of Karsan (played by Junaid Khan) a progressive reformist, writer and scholar belonging to the Vaishnava sect who fought against the sexual predator in the court when the latter slammed a defamation case for writing a libelous article against him.

Based on the Gujarati novel with the same title by Saurabh Shah, the plot finds its genesis in the Heera Bagh Haveli that has amassed enough wealth and flourished due to JJ’s (Jaideep Ahlawat) aura and has become the hub of prayers for all his devotees. Beneath the religious façade, lurks the evil and exploits in the name of Charan seva, where he fulfils his sexual desires by luring young and innocent girls in the name of devotional offering.

When Karsan’s beloved fiancee, Kishori (Shalini Pandey) innocently succumbs to the guru’s carnal desires, the enraged man breaks off all ties with her and pursues to expose him and liberate the sect from all his misdeeds.

Written by the team of Snehal Desai, Vipul Mehta and Bernard Williams, Maharaj resonates with the spirit of Manoj Bajpai’s 2023 social drama, ‘Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai’ and packs a bite with an engaging narrative. Though the story is set in the 1860s and soaked in Gujarati ethos, the language is very accessible and so is the period setting – a meticulous production design by Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray and costumes by Maxima Basu. Maharaj finds its tension and energy in the fight between the two men who symbolize the good and the immoral. Malhotra’s build-up to the court-room climax is a tad long and feels exhausting.

Portraying the part of the fearless journalist, Junaid Khan reflects a lot of earnestness in his performance but raises concern in his potential to take up challenging roles – the debutant actor is in search of expressions in scenes which require him to emote at a certain wavelength. Remarkably wooden, he needs to hone his skills despite being trained in theatre which saves him while he renders hyper-rhetorical speeches. Shalini Pandey is spontaneous and Sharvari Wagh a appears seasoned before her lanky gawky co-actor, even though her character grapples with diction of the S alphabet.

On the other hand, we have the versatile Jaideep Ahlawat exuding his conniving composure and charm, and a sculpted physique. Sporting long locks, Ahlawat is single-note, fleshing out his evil and wickedness in a quaint manner.

Maharaj – final words

Maharaj is a well-intentioned David vs Goliath saga and reflects the great deeds of an unsung hero whose service to mankind transcended the mere cleansing of the society from dogmas and reinforced courage to raise your voice against immorality. Junaid just touches him at the surface level.

I go with 3 stars out of 5 with Maharaj. The YRF produced film is streaming on Netflix from 14th June 2024.