A man in his mid-fifties with bandage next to his ear walks into a police station to lodge a complaint. His dustbin named Lakshmi has been stolen! The cops are crestfallen, and so was I. The unusual complaint sets the tone for Maharaja, the critically acclaimed Tamil film currently streaming on Netflix.
Vijay Sethupathi, also revered as Makkal Selvan by his admirers, needs no introduction. The National Award winning actor has won a lot of accolades with his path-breaking performances, both as a hero and an antagonist. Directed by Nithilan Saminathan, Maharaja has so many twists and turns that it will leave you hooked to the screen till the very end.
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Vijay Sethupathi Maharaja plot
Maharaja (Vijay Sethupathi) is a barber who runs a salon in KK Nagar area of Chennai. He lives with his daughter and a ‘dustbin’ named Lakshmi. He says that it was Lakshmi who fell on his daughter when his wife met with a fatal accident and saved her life.
But Maharaja’s world comes crashing down after he ‘finds’ that his Lakshmi is stolen. The police officer is visibly shocked as someone lodging a complaint is never heard of. But it is not just a dustbin that is missing. What follows next is a chain of events that will leave you pausing the film in between and recollecting what is unfolding in the story.
TBH, there are so many twists and turns that even a second of distraction will leave you puzzled. While Maharaja is frantically trying to convince the cops to take up his case, enters Selvam (Anurag Kashyap). He is a robber who works in a shop in the day and robs homes in the night.
Whether the two people are connected to each other, I won’t reveal it now. You have to watch the entire film. The screenplay is so gripping and tightly interwoven that at a point of time you would think it is a time travel movie. There are multiple layers in the story that makes it an interesting watch.
Maharaja cast and crew
Maharaja is directed by Nithilan Saminathan. It is the filmmaker’s second film after Kurangu Bommai, also a crime thriller. Vijay Sethupathi plays the titular role of Maharaja while filmmaker-actor Anurag Kashyap plays Selvam. Sachana Namidass plays Maharaja’s daughter Jothi.
Where to watch Vijay Sethupathi’s Maharaja?
Vijay Sethupathi’s Maharaja is currently streaming on Netflix. It is available in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada versions.