The name of Karsandas Mulji isn’t heard often when one speaks of Indian social reformers that were active during the British Era. Filmmaker Siddharth P Malhotra’s Maharaj will perhaps make him a talking point to some extent as the film is based on his heroics in a bygone era.

Produced by Yash Raj Films, Maharaj, which is streaming on Netflix, is based on the book of the same name written by Saurabh Shah in 2013. It narrates the story of Karsandas’ fight against an evil priest. The story starts off in a village in Gujarat in the 1820s where Karsandas, as a kid, questions everything, especially religious practices. He is sent to Bombay to his uncle’s place after he grows up (Junaid Khan). Karsan’s critical and revolutionary mind makes him a fearless journalist and a social reformer. He regularly writes about the evil social practices in Dadabhai Naoroji’s (Sunil Gupta) newspaper.

Karsan is engaged to Kishori (Shalini Pandey) and they deeply fall in love. During that era, Jadunathji (pronounced in the film as ‘Yadunath’) Maharaj (Jaideep Ahlawat), the priest of the biggest haveli (temple for Vaishnavas) in Mumbai, is worshiped by millions. He makes negative use of the devotion by engaging in ‘charan sparsh’ with young girls. The activity is nothing but sleeping with girls in the name of blessing.

One such ‘charan sparsh’ activity by Jadunath enrages Karsan and brings both of them face-to-face with each other. Karsan vows to expose and punish Jadunath through the use of his pen but the evildoer is unperturbed because of his powerful social position.  

The basic plot of Maharaj is similar to that of Manoj Bajpayee starrer Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (2023), which was based on the infamous Asaram case. But the makers of the former can’t be accused of taking inspiration from the latter for two reasons – Maharaj is also based on a true story and the film was in production before the Bajpayee starrer was released.

Apart from that, what sets Maharaj apart is that it takes the viewer deep into the chamber of the evil Godman and his practices over there. It also goes into detail when it comes to the religious practices and rituals of the devotees of Shrinathji. What also makes the film hard-hitting is the powerful lines, especially the ones mouthed by Karsan. The sequence where he addresses a large group of devotees after Jadunath shuts the haveli temporarily provides goosebumps and is certainly the highest moment of the film.

The court proceedings, although arriving much later, keep the hard-hitting nature of the film alive and the dialogues play a major role here too. The final moment surprisingly doesn’t provide the kind of a kick one would expect, especially after experiencing the aforementioned scene. But nevertheless, the film ends on a high, more so because of the tribute given to the real Karsandas Mulji.

Maharaj isn’t fully perfect in its narrative though. The idea of traditional families happily giving away their daughters to Jadunath for ‘charan sparsh’ despite knowing what he actually does with them and accepting it as an important ritual is not established at all. We also don’t get to know how Karsan earns enough money to live a decent lifestyle. There are a few other questionable moments and creative liberties too.

Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray’s production design recreate the bygone era to perfection. The film is also rich in music (Sohail Sen) and the background score (Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara).

Maharaj marks the debut of Junaid Khan in what is one of the most heroic and challenging characters of recent times. The young actor displays his talent by successfully getting into the difficult shoes of Karsandas Mulji (more so in the scene mentioned above), except for one or two instances. Jaideep Ahwalat is remarkable as the evil Godmen who doesn’t lose his cool even once, no matter what the situation. The actor keeps the character’s evil nature alive even behind a smile.

Shalini Pandey is noticeable despite limited screen time. Sharvari is the surprise package. She lights up the role of a young woman who becomes an important part of Karsandas’ journey. Surprisingly, she is credited as ‘special appearance’ whereas she is a supporting character and has more to do than Pandey. The film also has good supporting acts from Sneha Desai, Jay Upadhyay, Sunil Gupta, Priyal Gor, Jamie Alter (defense lawyer), Utkarsh Mazumdar (Lalvanji Mahraj), Vaibhav Tatwawadi (Dr Bhau Daji Lad), etc.

Overall: Maharaj is a hard-hitting social saga about fake Godmen, which, unfortunately, is relevant even after more than 160 years.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Director: Siddharth P Malhotra

Producers: Aditya Chopra for Yash Raj Films

Writers: Saurabh Shah (book), Vipul Mehta and Sneha Desai

Cast: Junaid Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat, Shalini Pandey, Sharvari

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