Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan’s son Junaid Khan has made his acting debut with Siddharth P Malhotra’s film Maharaj. Junaid’s debut film has been released on Netflix after winning a legal battle. According to the disclaimer of the film, the story of this film is based on Saurabh Shah’s book Maharaj but the same disclaimer also says that the film does not claim authenticity or truthfulness of any incident. Well, unfortunately, this is the time we are living in. However, all this did not help the makers as they actually had to get a clean chit from Gujarat HC for a film that did not hurt religious sentiments in any way. Maharaj is based on the Maharaj Libel Case of 1862, where Junaid Khan plays the real character of Karsandas Mulji and Jaideep Ahlawat plays the role of Jadunathji Brijratanji Maharaj, one of the heads of the Vallabhacharya sect. While Shalini Pandey plays a naive young girl, Sharvari Wagh plays a bubbly but strong-minded girl.
Story
The story of Maharaj begins with the birth of Karsandas (Junaid Khan). The filmmaker should be given credit for keeping a 5-8 minute segment in the film which shows a young inquisitive boy who has a lot to ask. His adventurous personality shines through and helps the audience understand his mindset better. After spending his childhood in his village, Karsandas moves to Bombay at the age of ten after the death of his mother. We are then brought to the timeline of Junaid Khan’s younger age where the actor can be seen dressed in traditional formals, dhoti kurta and speaking fluent Gujarati. He also has a fiancée named Kishori who is seen completing her studies only after Karsandas’ suggestion. The two are set to get married after her studies are complete, but things don’t go as planned. Crazy in love- Karsandas calls off his marriage when he sees his fiancée falling into the trap of religious guru Jadunath Maharaj, commonly called JJ. His whole life turns upside down as Karsandas takes a tough path, fights legal battles against the powerful and sets an example to be remembered for ages.
Story and Direction of Maharaj
Sidharth P Malhotra has chosen a strangely tough story as here no girl is being duped in the name of religion and superstition. It is she who is ignorant of her rights and naively not able to differentiate between right and wrong. But the masses are here and so are our social heroes who make this world a better place. However, Maharaj would have been more effective if the filmmaker had made the story crisper. What this film lacks is its implementation. Maharaj is slow, dull at times and dramatic at times. What goes in favour of this film is its production design, dialogues and music. Production designers Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray have done a good job. They effortlessly take the audience to the pre-independence era and never fall short in execution. Writers Sneha Desai and Vipul Mehta also deserve applause for writing applause-worthy dialogues. Lines like ‘Sawal na puche woh bhakt adhura hai aur jo jawaab na de sake woh dharam adhura hai’ are brilliant. Or ‘dharam se jyada hinsa waise bhi koi yuddha nahi hai’. Even ‘religious beliefs are extremely private, personal and sacred’ are very impressive and make one cheer for the characters. However, the script seems stretched at places and being an OTT release, the forward button comes in handy here.
Acting in Maharaj
At first glance, Junaid Khan looks just fine as Karsandas. He seems to have worked well on his expressions and has gotten deeper into the character. However, somewhere the theatrical feel dominates his dialogue delivery. However, Junaid’s dancing skills are superb. The actor puts up a good fight against Jaideep as well. Jaideep Ahlawat is the one who really owns the film. The actor has less dialogues than his Junaid, but he dominates. The facial expressions, the way he walks and the dialogue delivery, everything matches with the rhythm of the film. Shalini Pandey might remind you of Arjun Reddy as she can once again be seen playing the confident lover girl without any opinion. However, the flow of the film does break because of Sharvari Wagh. Her dialogue delivery is too quick to pick up and the flirtatiousness does not go well with the film. But the actress gets a chance to play both serious and non-serious roles in the film, which she does justice to.
Verdict
Junaid Khan has put in a good effort in his debut film and the actor seems to be promising to improve in the upcoming films as well. While Jaideep Ahlawat steals the show, the others too deserve a look. Maharaj is not just a film that talks about a real-life incident but also says a lot about the society one wants to be a part of.
