Maharaja: A Contrived Screenplay Overshadows the Few Good Things
As I walked out of the cinema after watching Maharaja, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of disappointment. The film, starring Vijay Sethupathi, had all the ingredients of a gripping thriller, but unfortunately, it fell short of expectations.
A still from the film
The story revolves around Maharaja, a single father who is desperate to get back a stolen dustbin. Yes, you read that right - a dustbin. But as the film progresses, it becomes clear that there’s more to Maharaja’s complaint than what meets the eye.
The screenplay, written by Nithilan Swaminathan, is contrived and tries too hard to surprise the audience. The twists and turns are carefully engineered, but they don’t quite work. The film relies heavily on performances, and Vijay Sethupathi shines as the taciturn aging man. However, Anurag Kashyap is miscast in the film, and his bad lip syncs are jarring.
The film’s biggest problem is its wannabe nature. It wants to come across as a gritty, dark, and emotional rollercoaster, but it ends up being a visual puzzle. The scenes are disjointed, and the narrative is convoluted. The purpose of this deliberate writing is to surprise the audience, but it ends up being more of a mess than a masterpiece.
The overarching problem with Maharaja is its ‘wannabe’ nature to come across as a gritty, dark, and emotional rollercoaster. It is more concerned about how it wants to come across than what it really is.
The film’s themes of revenge and exploitation are not handled sensitively, and the dark humor falls flat. The editor and cinematographers have done their best to cover up the flaws, but they can’t hide the fact that Maharaja is a disappointing film.
 A still from the film
In conclusion, Maharaja is a film that promises a lot but delivers little. It’s a shame, because with a tighter script and better direction, this could have been a gripping thriller. As it stands, it’s a mess of a film that’s more concerned with being clever than being good.
Rating: 2 out of 5
