Movie Review: Maharaja

I opted to watch this movie to curb my boredom and it did more than — it made me laugh, and then made me really think about the cycle of life and karma. I generally have a love-hate relationship with Bollywood movies and would most likely prefer to watch one with favourite actors, but something about this made me watch.

Quick Recap

The movie follows the story of a barber, Maharaja, as he enlists the help of the police to solve a crime.

The Intro Scenes

That intro scene actually cracked me up when he used “Tom” to start, “Tomorrow, I need the day off.” And just as I found my laughter, I gasped so hard when the lorry went for his family. I tell you, I have never been so taken unaware by a scene like that.

The Gold Heist

There are varying levels of embezzlement but that man's own is top notch. How do you earn 60,000 but build a house of 70,000,000? Anyway, it allowed us a glimpse into the dirty cop life of the inspector and I can't say I'm surprised.

The Faux Case

I laughed so hard when the first police officer tried to get an idea of the missing item. The seriousness on Maharajah’s part didn’t help as he took them through his routine and the theft.

The second round of explanation didn’t make it any easier as I laughed even more.

The climax was the Inspector’s inquiry into the thief whose name was ironically, Police. 😂🤣

My Thoughts

There was no saying what to expect or the turn the movie would take, but I was mightily impressed with how it went.

The Thief

It’s disheartening how criminals are so vile, mean, and unempathetic to their victims yet when it comes to their own they claim to be over-protective and a doting father or partner. It’s even worse when they have a good family who are unaware of their double life. Watching the wife break down in tears as she urged her husband to denounce the charges was heartbreaking. It’s an embarrassment so deep and humiliating to say the least.

The Direction of The Movie

I understand why many were confused about the flow of the movie but I’ve seen this concept before. Christopher Nolan applied it in Memento in which two separate timelines move against each other until they come to a meeting point where past and present collide to give the full picture.

That’s the same thing that happened here. For those who don’t get it, here’s a better layout:

Young Maharaja was a barber to one of the thieves more than a decade ago and the thief thought Maharaja overheard a conversation about his robberies and went ahead to blame the barber for his arrest and death of his partner.

Fast forward to the present time and we have an older Maharaja seeking justice after the same guy got out of jail and with two others abused his daughter.

Knowing well that he needed justice, Maharaja uses the guise of a missing dustbin to fish out the culprits and bring justice for his daughter.

Plot Twist One: Fake Thief, Real Thief

I’ve never known karma to work so fast, but I was sure elated to realise that he had gotten one of the thieves. He didn’t just get him, the thief was delivered to him on a silver platter, or should I say on an iron bucket.

The first plot twist took me by surprise and that was the police officers catching wind of the real reason behind his dustbin hunt and deciding to help.

It made sense when the Inspector insisted that the culprit sleptover rather than go back home.

The police officers shocked me. The fact they knew and actually delivered the culprit to get justice gave me a sense of satisfaction I didn’t know I could even have.

They are dirty cops quite all right, but having the decency to assist a grieving father in his cause for revenge, scored a point for them in my book.

It showed they at least had empathy despite having gone into the whole scheme because of money.

The Explanation

The culprit gave himself away with his explanation and if Maharaja had been doubtful before he started, the final explanation where he demonstrated the culping of the mouth was enough to sell him out. He positioned his hands exactly as he had done to the height of his daughter.

The bastard had the nerve to enjoy retelling the tale. His death was satisfying, seeing as he was the main one who went a step further in harming that innocent girl.

Plot Twist Two: Fake Daughter, Real Daughter

You can't imagine how I felt watching him trying to pick his family from the rubble all because he decided to do a good deed. It stung so much because if he had been a regular man, his family would not have been there in the first place. He would have probably sold the necklace and moved on with life, but despite this, the universe decided to compensate him with another daughter whom he has loved and raised like his life depends on it.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

I always pray against being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Maharaja's life took a different path the minute he went returning the necklace.

What are the odds that the police would find out the identity of the thieves that very day or that the thief would be at Maharaja’s saloon on the very same day. Or that Maharaja would trace him down to return his daughter’s gift?

These odds are so random. They are almost impossible but unfortunately they played out in Maharaja’s life bringing him a mixture of sorrow and happiness.

Maharaja

I sincerely wish they had shed more light into his past life, maybe before being a barber. How did he get so strong? How did he learn to fight like that? It was impressive watching him almost take down the school and then actually take down a police station. Or even watching he beheading someone while injured.

The Daughter

There is a quote that says forgiveness isn’t what you give to others, it’s what you give to yourself. I admired her courage in facing her attacker and letting him know she would never break. I got chills watching her because I don’t know what I would even do if I were in her shoes.

Favourite Scenes

• My favourite scenes were the initial police station scene when he went to file the case.
• The flogging of Mr Police.
• The Inspector calling his backup thieves to take the fall.
• The daughter giving out her shoe to her colleague who didn’t have one.

Saddest Scenes

• Watching the lorry take his family.

• Realising what had happened to the girl after her sport camp.
• The pain on his face at the hospital.

I’ve heard people say the storyline was everywhere, but it wasn’t. It only applied the concept of multiple timelines. The only thing I would flag down was that the director didn’t make it obvious that there were multiple timelines. There were no black and white effects or blur or flashbacks which meant you had to absolutely pay attention as you watched.

It’s not a background movie at all, but one that requires you stay glued to your screen till both timelines collapse on each other.

It was absolutely worth the watch. The run time was perfect and I don’t think any scene dragged out too much. The flow was paced well. Every necessary scene had enough to keep you informed and when they all collapsed and eventually met, it was so refreshing.

It’s obvious what I feel about this. If you haven’t seen it, you had better.