Maharathi

For starters the title is not apt. it gives an impression of a mythological drama (Ramayana/ Mahabharata). Well, it is clearly inspired by the success of Johnny Gaddar a la James Hadley Chase. Perhaps as a novel, it does ensure edge-of-seat excitement with twists and turns at every turn of page but sadly it failed to translate on screen. Again Johnny Gaddar should be a good reference point.

Performances::

§ Naseer:: Lesser mortals like us are in no position to comment on his work.

§ Paresh Rawal:: He was good if not excellent. The smart one-liners seemed stuffed into is mouth. His act of putting on the loyalty mask, seemed OTT. His frequent dispute with Neha Dhupia and Boman Irani were kind of show-stoppers to the narration.

§ Om Puri - Very short role and hence didn't get an opportunity to display histrionics.

§ Boman Irani - Very confident performance.

§ Neha Dhupia - Passable.

§ Tara Sharma - The "Little Red Riding Hood" act does raise the suspicion bar. Plus her choice of donning the same role every time is getting monotonously boring.

One gets a feel of watching a two-part episode from the Karamchand series, if you know what I mean. Shivam Nair won critical accolades for his work Ahista-Ahista, however seems this time putting shoulders to the wheel wasn't quite sufficient.

It left me satisfied, honestly speaking. Nothing very great, except that maybe it features Paresh Rawal, Boman Irani and Naseeruddin Shah in a supportive role...

It begins on a very boring note... very normal beginning and suddenly you feel like walking out and at that very moment the movie begins. Very thrilling story where a suicide has to be proved a murder in order to achieve a large sum of money.

Light humor in places keeps the viewer not in suspense (trust me there's enough of that!), but keeps the person in a very interested mood. Naseeruddin Shah has given a good performance, and so has Boman Irani, and even Neha Dhupia was fine-ish, but the best performance no doubt was Paresh Rawal's! Very humorous, and very enriching and refreshing.

Of course there were errors, and the cinematography could have been a 1000x better, because the camera is shaky at parts, and some gross errors (like blinking when you're dead!), but they can be ignored seeing the final result.

All-in-all, with a very humorous and shocking climax and NO SONGS AND NO ROMANCE, this film has left me highly satisfied.

Recommended to all. 7/10.

Maharathi is a surprise package of 2008. The cast is well-set and play their characters with absolute finesse. Paresh Rawal & Naseerudin Shah are the vital players. Neha Dhupia, Tara Sharma & Om Puri do equally well. Special mention for Boman Irani.

Starting off with a suspense-creating setup, the plot describes the prologue. After 40 minutes, the real side of the plot is revealed. And this is when it gets interesting. It's an edge of the seat thriller in the second half, if you can bypass the monotonous, slow-paced first half.

Editing, make-up, costumes, studio setup are all very poor, giving a worn-out display of the whole movie. Cinematography & direction are fine. The writing is good, especially the dialogs towards the end. Other than having few plot holes, Maharathi is a good entertainer. Mildly interesting is what I would dub it!

BOTTOM LINE: Recommended. A 6.7 out of 10 for the story, plot & performances.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Profanity/Vulgarity/Sex: No | Nudity: Very Mild | Mouth-Kiss: No | Violence/Gore: Mediocre | Alcohol: Critical | Smoking/Drugs: No | Porn: No

Shivam Nair's film Maharathi is a suspense thriller that keeps many questions unanswered till the end. The film comes with some of the finest performance of lead actors but that doesn't make up for the flaws in the script. The film is about how a common man gets the property money of his employer and the legal aspect of making a will is not convincingly clarified..

Adapted from a very popular Gujarati play by the same name, Maharathi makes for an interesting watch solely for the performance of almost all its lead actors. But what keeps on striking the viewer constantly are the limitations of a play being adapted to the big screen. Firstly, for a thriller, the plot appears far too stretched, especially in the first half. Then once the first major twist in the plot takes place, what follows is at times, a matter of convenience. OK even if you are willing to forgive some cinematic liberties, what really comes out is not only predictable but also raises many questions..

If you want a taste of a desi version of Sleuth, Peter Shaffer's spellbinding play-turned-film, go watch Maharathi. The story may be different, the edge of danger is almost similar.

It was an awesome flick and all the big guns shouted in Unison. Paresh and Boman are outstanding. Paresh Rawal act fabulously in the movie. The movie is eye catching from very of its beginning and also audience start guessing about the characters from starting scenes. The movie catches the speed in 30-40 mins when Tag line of movie "How do you murder a man who has already committed suicide?", actually start reflecting in the story. Paresh's acting of fooling others and expressions of innocence at the same time, truly differentiates him from other actors. His drama to misguide the police officer and lawyer was really comic part of movie and pours humor. Even sometimes it makes you roll into laughter. Hats off to Paresh. Uttam Gada is really admirable for writing such a nice script. Good direction by Shivam Nair, a bit loose in the second half but covered in the end. Neha Dhupiya's acting was only negative even though she is very less to do. Overall worth watching the "Maharathi".