Maharaj - The Right To Question

‘Maharaj’ is perhaps the first historical film based on the fight of a bold, young man, Karsandas Mulji (Junaid Khan), a Gujarati journalist, writer and social reformer. He questioned the misuse and abuse of power by the religious leader Jadunath Maharaj, or JJ (Jaideep Ahlawat).

Maharaj used his power over his thousands of religious followers to sexually abuse girls and women devotees. His victims were cleverly brainwashed to accept the sexual abuse as a concrete expression of their worship of JJ called “charan seva” in their accepted lingo.

The shocking truth in this sexual exploitation was that the girls and their families too, were so brainwashed that they accept this as part of their seva and were even ecstatic when a girl is chosen by JJ to shower his “blessings” on. The devotees are offered a feast of sweet lapsi following the deflowering of any young girl.

The story is based on the landmark Libel Case of 1862 fought in the High Court of Bombay. The case was filed by JJ against Mulji. The committed journalist was shocked by JJ’s hypnotic hold over his devotees and a social worker as well, and had written an explosive article in a Gujarati-English newspaper ‘Satyaprakash’ which triggered the legal fight by JJ against Mulji.

Karsandas, in his write-up, also mentioned fathers and husbands, who offered their unwed daughters, and newly-wedded wives, as sexual objects to Maharaj, believing it to be a service to God.

Directed by Siddharth A. Malhotra, ‘Maharaj’, is a lavishly mounted film set in Gujarat. Its colourful sets, ornate and heavy jewellery sported on his bare body by JJ who makes his presence felt by walking down from his august throne, stepping not on the ground but on the palms of his male devotees.

He crosses that path and is seated on his grand chariot, standing up to accept the prayers of his thousands of devotees waiting for his darshan.

The young, fresh-faced and cheerful Karsan who began with socially relevant speeches to a gathered audience on widow remarriage and other social reform moves, is shocked beyond belief when he finds that his young and naïve fiancée Kishori (Shalini Panday) walks willingly into JJ’s bed chambers and is deflowered by him.

Devotees willing to pay a fee of Rs.11 are given the opportunity to watch the ‘show’ through the many windows, where JJ is having sex with Kishori and other young women. And this is considered quite normal among the devotees.

When Karsan becomes eye-witness to Kishori being raped by JJ, he is aghast but Kishori thinks it is a blessing to be so chosen. Karsan, who has waited for four years since his engagement to Kishori to finish her schooling, is so shocked that he breaks off the engagement.

But Kishori commits suicide and a shocked Karsan decides to write about this regular sexual abuse by JJ in the name of devotion and worship.

“Telling people they are wrong is not enough. You need to give them a chance to reform and rehabilitate and that will bring about real change,” this is a line someone says in the film and several such lines subtly yet powerfully dot the film which unfolds how way back in 1872 also, there was a social reformer-turned-journalist in Gujarat, a state said to be less progressive in the matter of social reform than Maharashtra and Bengal.

So, one fails to understand what made the Gujarat High Court order a stay on its release on Netflix and then, a week later, lifted the stay stating that the film did not hurt the sentiments of the masses in Gujarat.

The State High Court should be happy that at last some positive light was being shed on Gujarat by paying a cinematic tribute to one man who stood against a huge crowd of devotees, though JJ never forgot to stress on repeating the “Das” in his name to focus on his low caste though he is Vaishnav too.

Though the film has been inspired by real events, it is an adaptation of the book titled ‘Maharaj’, written by Saurabh Shah. In the pre-credits, it also says that “the film does not make any claims of authenticity or correctness of any events or incidents depicted in the film”.

The film is fictionalised history, created out of a true story embellished and enriched with lavish settings that are visually and musically full of glamour. This recreates a period of history that actually strips the film of a more realistic setting and ambience but is attractive in terms of mass appeal.

A film based on historical truth that relies more on loud and glamorous settings has a strong tendency to somewhat marginalise the characterisations and the performances of the main actors. This is precisely what ails ‘Maharaj’.

Jaideep Ahlawat as Maharaj is the right choice to portray the character, oozing with a sense of power over his devotees, wearing a beatific smile on his face, and standing on his chariot to bless his devotees.

When we see him as Maharaj, we realise that no other actor could have put in such a marvellous realisation of a character who hardly speaks in the entire film, but bears a regal posture to add quality to his mesmerising power over the thousands of devotees.

The devotees are quite prepared to hand over their sisters, wives and daughters to him as ‘charan seva’. The only question that this raises is – how did the Maharaj acquire the nickname JJ way back in 1872?

Junaid Khan looks naïve, innocent and sweet and in a challenging acting debut, he tries his best to hold his own, opposite a giant opponent on screen like Jaideep Ahlawat. The other quality that goes in his favour is he has tried his best NOT to be influenced by his father Amir Khan’s style of acting and tried to stick to the director’s commands.

His failure to shrug off the tragic death of his fiancée Kishori and facing the fact that he is disowned by his father and family, is coped with when he meets the sprightly and bubbly young maiden (Sharvari Wagh). This adds some bubbles to the scenario, and also a bit of colour to the young and attractive Karsandas’ life.

She looks and behaves quite modern given the ‘period’ the film is set in but she adds a lot of cheer and lightness to the serious proceedings.

Three other female characters who throw up good cameo performances are that of Leelavati who gets impregnated by JJ who tries to poison her. When she appears along with her angry brother to tell Karsandas that she is willing to stand as witness against JJ at the trial, she is abducted by JJ’s goons and married off to his slave.

The second lady is Karsandas’ Mami who is a widow and who Karsan tries to change in terms of the restrictions placed on a Hindu-Vaishnav widow. The third is JJ’s wife who also comes forward to stand witness against her husband.

But Leelavati’s brother is probably killed though Karsan’s maami comes forward to stand witness. The new girl in Karsan’s life confesses that she too, was raped by JJ when she was barely 16.

The most outstanding quality of the film is that though there are spaces to introduce a lot of melodrama, ‘Maharaj’ is neither a tear-jerker nor a tragic essay. The long monologue by Karsan in his defence in the courtroom seems a bit unrealistic, given the period and the circumstances.

Karsan being lifted by his friends and admirers after winning the court case adds some chutzpah to the proceedings but the holi song-dance number is a bit too much.

The lesson that ‘Maharaj’ holds forth is: fake Godmen are still pertinent as we have witnessed in other web series like ‘Sirf Ek Banda Kafi Hai’, and there are few Karsandases to save girls from being raped in the name of religion.

The other lesson is that, glamour and grandeur and music and dance in any period drama, is bound to marginalise the performance of the actors and their interaction on screen. ‘Maharaj’, however, deserves at least a single viewing.