Maharaja Review – Conveniently Written, yet a Commendable Execution!
Ashwin Ram
Maharaja is a mystery thriller starring Vijay Sethupathi, Anurag Kashyap and Natty in the lead role. The film is directed by Nithilan Saminathan and jointly produced by Passion Studios and The Route.
Premise: Vijay Sethupathi is a single parent of a teenage daughter, he owns a saloon for a living. After a strange event at his house, he goes to the Police station to file a complaint that a dustbin is missing. What is his real motive and how he settles it forms the remaining story.
Writing/ Direction:
The pace is slow burn for most part, but it is never really boring as something or the other is constantly happening. Just that the layered moments don’t really push the story ahead till the pre-climax. The narrative pattern is very interesting, director Nithilan has played his own game throughout with non-linearity. All it lacks is that perfect writing stamp that links the puzzled timeline, the pieces are piled up convincingly, but demands a better fluency in the flow. The logical appeal is done right and the effort in setting them without any loopholes is evident on-screen. The film misses out on believability at some crucial places, the opening lorry accident for example, which stands as the major connecting factor has no detailing as to what caused the incident. Engaging on the whole and has all the elements to be a thrilling flick, but the screenplay isn’t a smart one, rather it is gimmicky which feels like the answers were written first and the questions for it are comfortably formed. The last 20 minutes is solid and sums everything in a crackling manner, the reveals are powerful as the content is strongly placed. Certain forcefully empowering dialogues and display of graphic violence that is bound to work with the theatrical crowd, but the filmmaker misses to catch hold of the groundedness which the rest of the movie tries to follow.
Performances:
Vijay Sethupathi is truthful to his character, he is perfect as a tired middle-age-man who is up for something tricky. Superb supporting role for Natty alongside Munishkanth and Aruldoss who all lead the way for some whistles towards the end. Such an unexpectedly serious changeover for Singampuli and he has carried it with so much confidence. Dummy role for Mamtha Mohandas as she offers literally nothing to the subject. So does Barathiraja, intended to be a support system for Vijay Sethupathi, but a minimal screen-time and lack of effective moments make his presence questionable. Anurag Kashyap is casted to play the main villain, his role and the depth in it are all fine, but his acting is poor and the lip sync issues make him worse.
Technicalities:
Apart from a couple of short montages, no songs hence not much disturbance for the flow. Ajaneesh Loknath’s background score is impactful, however he could have given some more space for silence to fill the tension. Quality cinematography, so many tough to handle night shots are captured well and coloured neatly at the DI table. Editor has thoroughly grasped the narrative pattern and worked accordingly for the timeline jumps, but cannot ignore the fact that the film feels clumsy at places, especially in the first hour when the characters and their world is under construction. Splendid work by stunt master ANL Arasu and team, barring the overly violent shots, the fight scenes are realistic and powerful at the same time.
Bottomline
Gimmicky narrative and a favorable paperwork are the major shortcomings. The engaging flow and a cracker of a finale with punchy plot twists hide away the flaws and makes it an interesting watch.
Rating – 3/ 5
