Maharathi

Shivam Nair's film Maharathi is a suspense thriller that keeps many questions unanswered till the end. The film comes with some of the finest performance of lead actors but that doesn't make up for the flaws in the script. The film is about how a common man gets the property money of his employer and the legal aspect of making a will is not convincingly clarified..

Adapted from a very popular Gujarati play by the same name, Maharathi makes for an interesting watch solely for the performance of almost all its lead actors. But what keeps on striking the viewer constantly are the limitations of a play being adapted to the big screen. Firstly, for a thriller, the plot appears far too stretched, especially in the first half. Then once the first major twist in the plot takes place, what follows is at times, a matter of convenience. OK even if you are willing to forgive some cinematic liberties, what really comes out is not only predictable but also raises many questions..

If you want a taste of a desi version of Sleuth, Peter Shaffer's spellbinding play-turned-film, go watch Maharathi. The story may be different, the edge of danger is almost similar.

For starters the title is not apt. it gives an impression of a mythological drama (Ramayana/ Mahabharata). Well, it is clearly inspired by the success of Johnny Gaddar a la James Hadley Chase. Perhaps as a novel, it does ensure edge-of-seat excitement with twists and turns at every turn of page but sadly it failed to translate on screen. Again Johnny Gaddar should be a good reference point.

Performances::

§ Naseer:: Lesser mortals like us are in no position to comment on his work.

§ Paresh Rawal:: He was good if not excellent. The smart one-liners seemed stuffed into is mouth. His act of putting on the loyalty mask, seemed OTT. His frequent dispute with Neha Dhupia and Boman Irani were kind of show-stoppers to the narration.

§ Om Puri - Very short role and hence didn't get an opportunity to display histrionics.

§ Boman Irani - Very confident performance.

§ Neha Dhupia - Passable.

§ Tara Sharma - The "Little Red Riding Hood" act does raise the suspicion bar. Plus her choice of donning the same role every time is getting monotonously boring.

One gets a feel of watching a two-part episode from the Karamchand series, if you know what I mean. Shivam Nair won critical accolades for his work Ahista-Ahista, however seems this time putting shoulders to the wheel wasn't quite sufficient.

Shivam Nair assembles a fine cast in 'Maharathi'. With actors like Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri in one movie, you would expect something great. I enjoyed the execution. It has that film noire feel to it. The interiors of Adenwalla's mansion is stunning. The cinematography is first rate. The editing is sharp. The element of mystery, suspense and drama is well maintained. The events unfold smoothly but surprisingly. Every time one would expect the story to follow a certain track, the viewer is thrown off with something unexpected. Paresh Rawal does a very good job carrying the film. Boman Irani isn't bad either. Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri also do nothing short of a fine job (unfortunately they don't share screen space). Neha Dhupia looks the part but struggles to convince. It was great to see Tara Sharma after a long time. While I liked the whole mystery part, I was disappointed by the ending. I would have preferred a darker finale. In the conclusion, Subhash is portrayed as a character of little fault but he is almost as guilty as Adenwalla's wife. It was his plan to start with, as a consequence of which someone actually died. Yet, he turns out to be the good guy because the one who died is of 'loose' morals in comparison. This is a major flaw that prevents me from calling 'Maharathi' excellent. I also find it less convincing that a millionaire would leave his entire estate to a stranger he knows so little about. However, I didn't mind it at all for a one time watch because it's well made and has some good performances.

Seldom are movies made from a play... & this one goes the right way! The last theater i can remember off hand was AANKHEN... A Bachan & Paresh Rawal.. The movie wasn't quite catchy, but one could imagine the kind of theatrical performances it must have delivered..

Today, i saw an actual performance, only difference being, I saw it on the screen.. The way the movie was done, one felt the characters were alive on a stage in front of me!!!

The plot of the movie is very good. But the performances are mind blowing! One couldn't have set a better cast, & while the ladies need to do much better, the quartet of Boman, Paresh, Naseer & Om Puri swept me off my feet!

While Paresh Raval dominates the movie completely, it is Boman's sharp performance that draws the curtain! I couldn't have spent my Friday night better.

It is a movie worth treasuring... Please have a look!

Lovely movie , excellent performances , top notch screenplay , loved every bit of it , nail biting climax