Maharathi

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.

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

It left me satisfied, honestly speaking. Nothing very great, except that maybe it features Paresh Rawal, Boman Irani and Naseeruddin Shah in a supportive role...

It begins on a very boring note... very normal beginning and suddenly you feel like walking out and at that very moment the movie begins. Very thrilling story where a suicide has to be proved a murder in order to achieve a large sum of money.

Light humor in places keeps the viewer not in suspense (trust me there's enough of that!), but keeps the person in a very interested mood. Naseeruddin Shah has given a good performance, and so has Boman Irani, and even Neha Dhupia was fine-ish, but the best performance no doubt was Paresh Rawal's! Very humorous, and very enriching and refreshing.

Of course there were errors, and the cinematography could have been a 1000x better, because the camera is shaky at parts, and some gross errors (like blinking when you're dead!), but they can be ignored seeing the final result.

All-in-all, with a very humorous and shocking climax and NO SONGS AND NO ROMANCE, this film has left me highly satisfied.

Recommended to all. 7/10.

Maharathi is a surprise package of 2008. The cast is well-set and play their characters with absolute finesse. Paresh Rawal & Naseerudin Shah are the vital players. Neha Dhupia, Tara Sharma & Om Puri do equally well. Special mention for Boman Irani.

Starting off with a suspense-creating setup, the plot describes the prologue. After 40 minutes, the real side of the plot is revealed. And this is when it gets interesting. It's an edge of the seat thriller in the second half, if you can bypass the monotonous, slow-paced first half.

Editing, make-up, costumes, studio setup are all very poor, giving a worn-out display of the whole movie. Cinematography & direction are fine. The writing is good, especially the dialogs towards the end. Other than having few plot holes, Maharathi is a good entertainer. Mildly interesting is what I would dub it!

BOTTOM LINE: Recommended. A 6.7 out of 10 for the story, plot & performances.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Profanity/Vulgarity/Sex: No | Nudity: Very Mild | Mouth-Kiss: No | Violence/Gore: Mediocre | Alcohol: Critical | Smoking/Drugs: No | Porn: No

It was an awesome flick and all the big guns shouted in Unison. Paresh and Boman are outstanding. Paresh Rawal act fabulously in the movie. The movie is eye catching from very of its beginning and also audience start guessing about the characters from starting scenes. The movie catches the speed in 30-40 mins when Tag line of movie "How do you murder a man who has already committed suicide?", actually start reflecting in the story. Paresh's acting of fooling others and expressions of innocence at the same time, truly differentiates him from other actors. His drama to misguide the police officer and lawyer was really comic part of movie and pours humor. Even sometimes it makes you roll into laughter. Hats off to Paresh. Uttam Gada is really admirable for writing such a nice script. Good direction by Shivam Nair, a bit loose in the second half but covered in the end. Neha Dhupiya's acting was only negative even though she is very less to do. Overall worth watching the "Maharathi".