Maharaj: L'ordre menacé

The year is 1862 and the location is India. Based on a true story it is about the ideological clash between a self styled religious guru called Jadunath Maharaj and a reformist cum journalist Karsandas Mulji Karsandas had exposed the inappropriate relationships of Maharaj with women disciples in his newspaper and in retaliation the Maharaj had filed a case of defamation against him. The later portion of the movie focuses on the courtcase where the British judiciary dismisses the case and based on the evidence of the abused women, the court gives instructions to initiate criminal proceedings against the Maharaj.

Director Malhotra P Siddharth has made an absorbing movie which faithfully depicts the people and atmosphere of that era. Both the protagonist Junaid and antagonist Jaideep Ahlawat have been suitably cast in their well written roles. Both have given a good account of themselves. Jaideep is convincing with his towering personality, dialogue delivery and body language while Junaid as the soft spoken and determined journalist (in his debut) is convincing too. Their clash is shown very realistically through the scenes and the dialogue. Sharvari Wagh does well in support. The court scenes in the later part make for gripping cinema.

Maharaj is a pretty decent movie fitting for OTT release. It is well made and brings a real story based on a infamous landmark court case of the 19th century to the screen. Like most period dramas based on stories from 150+ years ago, it represents some fiction and some facts but the movie captures the main essence of the main story. The topic is handled delicately by the director even though the ending seems a bit filmy.

The highlight of the movie is the talented Jaideep Ahlawat who looks divinely evil with a chilling and charismatic smile as the movie's titular antagonist. He truly raises the movie with a very subtle performance. Junaid does a decent job as the movie's protagonist in his debut feature. There are some similarities in acting style with his superstar father Aamir but Junaid lacks the screen and vocal presence of his father. He is decent and does a good job in the movie but at this stage doesnt really sparkle as one would hope. It is still a grounded and well performed role in a serious drama. Only time and mainstream movies will tell if he is a commercially viable actor or a good character actor.

The other actors are decent especially Shalini Pandey who does a good job. Sharvari looks good and is pretty energetic but her role doesnt help the storyline a lot. The sets, design and costumes are pretty good for a period drama. Some of the dialogs are exceptional. The songs are average and actually not required for a movie of such a genre. Overall a decent watch but nothing great. The only 2 reasons to watch the movie are Jaideep Ahlawat for his towering presence and Junaid Khan for the purpose of sheer curiosity. 7/10.

The film was suddenly shown without any marketing for it, just some news about the participation of Junaid Khan, son of the star Aamir Khan, in the film, in addition to the battle between the film makers and the courts.

The film, from my point of view, is a Bollywood film with all the elements of enjoyable home viewing, but I was I hope that the film tends to narrate history and events in more depth, without songs, performances, and melodramatic dialogues.

The scenery and sets, the costumes and music, the cinematography and the direction, are all good factors in this film.

The acting is very good and a successful start for Junaid Khan, and I hope to see his upcoming works. The film is worth watching, but I expected it to be stronger than what I saw.

I wasn't expecting much from the movie but thought of giving it a watch and honestly it ended up exceeding my expectations. From the cinematography to the dialogues everything was exceptional. Also I found junaid khan's performance so natural and impressive since this was his debut movie and he absolutely nailed it!! Hope that he gets to play more amazing roles in future as he seems like the only nepo kid who's trying to make his name by his hard work and not through PR. Sharvari was a treat to watch as well.

This movie not only shows the illicit acts that people used to practice under the guise of religion but also highlights the issues women face to this day. Recommended!

I didnt like the Bollywood style, expected something more refined here since its a historical case. I really liked Junaid's acting at the court scene, somewhere in the middle of the movie he got totally absorbed by the character, and giving it a great finish.

I didn't like the Sharavari's character, was too 80s Bollywood flirty female. Loved the performance of the first actress.

Somehow Jaideep Ahlawat failed to impress me, this is the first time I must say.

Im glad though that this movie was made and really its required for people to understand how carried away they get by religion, customs and traditions.