Maharaj

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.

Early into Maharaj—the new Netflix movie loosely adapted from Saurabh Shah’s book of the same name, which chronicles a famous libel court case from 1862—at the end of a frivolous song-and-dance sequence, a religious leader who’s known to prey on young, betrothed women walks up to his next victim as she celebrates Holi. The Maharaj (Jaideep Ahlawat) grabs a fistful of coloured powder and smears it across Kishori’s naked chest, essentially marking her. It’s disturbing. But for Kishori (Shalini Pandey) who worships him, it’s a moment of unbridled joy. She thinks she’s the chosen one, picked to perform a vital religious ritual. Her aunt says as much to her face. So, when she finds herself all alone with the Maharaj in his palatial room, she readily gives in to everything he asks of her.