Maharani
Cast: Huma Qureshi, Sohum Shah, Amit Sial
Creator: Subhash Kapoor
Subhash Kapoor tried his hand at a political story with a definitive caste angle in Madam Chief Minister earlier this 12 months, however that turned out to be a futile try. Not solely due to a blousy script but additionally as a result of tone-deaf remedy of its Dalit protagonist. He has made the identical mistake in SonyLiv’s Maharani, the story involving a backward caste girl Rani Bharti (Huma Qureshi) turning the political tide in her favour in a male-dominated world. The present is nothing greater than one other ‘masala’ cocktail in which each politician is a satan. Kapoor ought to actually be grateful to Huma Qureshi and Sohum Shah, the lead pair, for bringing sure nuances to an in any other case bland story.
Rani turns into the Chief Minister of Bihar in the late ‘90s after her husband, the sitting CM Bheema Bharti (Sohum Shah), gets hospitalised following an assassination attempt. She is surrounded by political opportunists, all males except one female who sleeps her way to a minister’s job. Rani’s reluctance to return out of her kitchen is the largest hindrance to her sudden political placement. How she survives amid the jackals units the remainder of the plot in movement.
The references to sure politicians are apparent however greater than empathy, they reek of mockery. It is rarely in regards to the making of a politician a la Rabri Devi, or how she began dropping floor with a dramatic surge in caste-related violence. The opposition chief Naveen Kumar (Amit Sial) is as conniving as anyone else. What the makers have utterly forgotten is the function of the fundamental unit of any democracy- the general public. That too of a politically hypersensitive state like Bihar.
Kapoor has taken some outlined stance although, particularly in relation to displaying the clashes between the novel left and personal militia of the landlords. But in some way all this appears compelled. They don’t contribute to the pure development of a narrative which also needs to have probed the affect of OBC leaders on the poor and marginalised.
Qureshi and Shah, in explicit, have proven the willingness to get to the human facet of the politicians. There is a scene the place Shah contemplates pushing Qureshi’s identify for CM’s submit. It uncovers the layers of prejudices a girl faces in varied circumstances. However, such scenes are uncommon, and Maharani principally stays a Mirzapur-like twisted saga. Maybe that was the intention.
This write-up is predicated on the primary seven episodes offered for the assessment goal, and I can solely hope for the remainder three episodes so as to add some nuances. If you’ve gotten an urge for food for heavy-duty oneliners and dramatic entries then Maharani is likely to be the present you’re on the lookout for.
Rating: 2.5/5
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