Maharaja (Hindi)

Maharaja is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Nithilan Swaminathan, who co-wrote the script with Raam Murali. It is jointly produced by The Route, Think Studios and Passion Studios. The film stars Vijay Sethupathi in the titular role, alongside Anurag Kashyap, Mamta Mohandas, Natarajan Subramaniam, Abhirami Gopikumar, Singampuli, Aruldoss, Munishkanth, Sachana Namidass, Manikandan and Bharathiraja.

The film was officially announced in February 2023 under the tentative title VJS50, as it is Sethupathi’s 50th film as the lead actor. Principal photography commenced the same month, predominantly taking place in Chennai throughout a single schedule. The official title was announced in July, coinciding with the filming being wrapped and Think Studios joining as co-producers. The film has music composed by B. Ajaneesh Loknath, cinematography handled by Dinesh Purushothaman and editing by Philomin Raj.

Maharaja was released worldwide on 14 June 2024 to positive reviews from critics, who praised Sethupathi’s performance, Philomin’s editing and Swaminathan’s writing and direction. It had the second highest opening weekend of Tamil cinema in 2024 and emerged as the third highest-grossing Tamil film of 2024.

Maharaja is a quiet man, working as a barber in Ramki Saloon in Chennai. One day, a truck slams into his house, leading to his wife’s death. His daughter, Jothi, survives when a dustbin accidentally falls and covers her. Maharaja and Jothi name the dustbin “Lakshmi” out of affection.

One day, Maharaja visits the local police station to report a robbery, citing that Lakshmi has been robbed, much to the amusement of the cops. He recounts the incident: an armed gang raided his house, attacked him, and took Lakshmi. The police do not want to invest effort in finding an empty dustbin but accept once he promises a bribe of ₹5 lakhs for the culprits. They rope in Nallasivam, a convict turned informant.

Past (2009):

Selvam and Sabari are a duo that raids houses, rapes women, and kills the victims. One day, Sabari informs Selvam that their crimes are in the newspaper. Selvam happens to be in Ramki Saloon for a beard trim during the phone conversation, and suspects that Maharaja overheard. He leaves but forgets a gold chain at the saloon that he wants to gift his baby daughter Ammu. Maharaja visits Selvam’s house to return it but the police simultaneously arrive. They gun down Sabari and arrest Selvam, who believes that Maharaja ratted him out.

Present (2024):

In the present, a delinquent named Dhana works in a car garage; Maharaja witnesses him get in a fight at a bar. Meanwhile, Nallasivam agrees to act as the perpetrator so as to “solve” the case. The police ask Maharaja over the phone to narrate the incident again so that Nallasivam can act accordingly.

Maharaja recounts the incident but a flashback depicts the actual event, revealing that the incident happened not to him but to Jothi. Jothi had returned home from sports camp while he was at work. Three men revealed to be Selvam, Dhana, and Nallasivam, are in the house to kill him. Selvam still believes he ratted him out 14 years ago and vowed revenge, but Maharaja isn’t home. Instead, they physically assault Jothi and Nallasivam and Dhana rape her multiple times. Jothi is hospitalized. Back home, a fallen receipt from Dhana leads Maharaja to the aforementioned bar fight Dhana was in. Dhana reveals that one of his accomplices is inside the police station itself before Maharaja beheads him. This is when he goes to the police station, as shown in the beginning, and invents a story about how his dustbin was stolen.

In the present, Inspector Varadharajan and his team takes Nallasivam, now rather flustered, to Maharaja’s home to return the dustbin. Varadharajan then reveals that his team had discovered Nallasivam’s involvement in the rape of Jothi while investigating Dhana’s death. Thus, they carried out the ruse of bringing him to Maharaja for vigilante justice, giving Maharaja the freedom to punish him. Maharaja kills him, but not before finding out who the third accomplice is.

He arrives at the construction site where Selvam works, incapacitates him, and brings Jothi to him as per her wish. Jothi tosses a bag of jewelry at his face, assuming he had come to their home for it. Selvam finds in the jewelry the gold chain he had bought for Ammu on her birthday – the very one that Maharaja had come to return so many years earlier.

The full scene from when Maharaja’s wife died in the beginning is revealed with more context. After Selvam’s arrest, Maharaja, his wife, and baby had come to Selvam’s wife Kokila’s new house to return the chain. When Maharaja had gone to buy Ammu a gift from the shop across the street, a truck rammed into Kokila’s house, killing everyone but Ammu, who was saved by the dustbin Lakshmi. Maharaja adopts Ammu, changes her name, and raises her as his own daughter. In the present, Selvam sees a scar on Jothi’s shoulder, the same one as on baby Ammu, and realises that he had been unwittingly complicit in the rape and assault of his own daughter. Out of guilt, he throws himself off the building and dies as Jothi leaves with Maharaja and her teacher.