Maharaj: A Fight Against Blind Faith

The Netflix film Maharaj, directed by Siddharth P. Malhotra, is a period drama that raises important questions about the dangers of blind faith and the importance of free thinking. The film is based on a true story that took place over 160 years ago, when a journalist named Karsandas Mulji dared to challenge a powerful religious leader named Yadunath Maharaj.

A powerful religious leader with a dark secret

Yadunath Maharaj was the head priest of a haveli, a religious order located in a specific temple. He was known for his charisma and his ability to manipulate his followers. However, behind closed doors, he was a charlatan who believed that he was continuing a hoary tradition by deflowering just-married women or teenage girls offered to him by their husbands and parents respectively.

The community saw the surrender of body and mind to the lust of the venerated Yadunath Maharaj as a way to earn the blessings of the Almighty. But Karsandas Mulji, a fearless crusader, saw through the myth and decided to take a stand against the godman.

“This is both devotion and tradition,” the maharaj says when Karsan confronts him.

Karsandas Mulji was driven by his radical ideas regarding women’s education, widow remarriage, banning of the veil, abolition of untouchability, and blind faith. He articulated his revolutionary thoughts not only to an enraged family headed by an orthodox maternal uncle but also to his would-be bride Kishori.

A fearless crusader against blind faith

The film also addresses several other significant themes that have relevance across time and societies. These centre on the dangers inherent in creating personality cults, the importance of free thinking in a society where large segments of people fall prey to indoctrination, and the risks that uncompromising, intrepid journalism is inevitably fraught with.

In an emotionally charged exchange between Karsan and his fiancee Kishori, the former insists that one needs intelligence and wisdom, and not religion, to tell right from wrong. But he soon figures out that devotion, like love, is blind.

“One who does not ask questions isn’t a true bhakt,” says a senior priest from Yadunath Maharaj’s haveli.

The undeniable pertinence of the issues that Maharaj addresses is undermined by its over-reliance on pretty visuals. The film’s lack of genuine heft is a major letdown. However, Jaideep Ahlawat’s understated performance as Yadunath Maharaj is a highlight of the film. He towers over everything and everyone else in the film with an understated performance that exudes creepy mendacity.

A chilling performance that will leave you on the edge of your seat

The craftsmanship on show in Maharaj cannot be faulted. The film is marked by consistent technical finesse, with Rajeev Ravi’s camera never going wrong in bringing alive the period and the place. Especially striking are the hues of gold and russet created in the maharaj’s spacious bedroom by a combination of fire and smoke.

However, for all the elements that work in Maharaj, there is a whole bunch of others that don’t. A period drama that has so much to say has never felt so inert and ineffectual.