Maharaja

<p>Maharaja is a quiet man who works as a in Ramki Saloon in . One day, while buying toys from a shop across the street, a slams into a house he and his family were visiting, leading to his wife’s death. His daughter, Jothi, survives when a 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 that Lakshmi has been robbed, much to the cops’ amusement. He recounts the incident: three men raided his house, attacked him, and took Lakshmi. The police do not want to invest effort in finding an empty dustbin but accept due to his stubborness and a promised bribe of 5 lakhs to Inspector Varadharajan for the culprits. During the investigation, another case, the disappearance of a delinquent named Dhana after a bar fight, is opened at the station. Previously, Maharaja found a receipt left behind by the perpetrators, which led him to Dhana. After tailing him, Maharaja fought off his lackeys and made Dhana reveal that one of the other perpetrators was associated with the police station before beheading him. In the present, Maharaja escapes being found out and continues the investigation, clandestinely looking for suspects at the station. During the investigation, various events from the past are shown. Selvam and Sabari are two criminals who raided houses, raped women, and killed them. Selvam lived happily with his wife, Kokila, and baby daughter, Ammu, who don’t know about his crimes. One day, Sabari informed Selvam that their crimes were in the newspaper. Selvam happened to be in Ramki Saloon for a beard trim during the phone conversation and suspects that Maharaja overheard. He left but forgot Ammu’s birthday gift, a gold chain, at the store; Maharaja visited Selvam’s house to return it, but the police simultaneously arrived, shot down Sabari, and arrested Selvam, who believed Maharaja exposed him. Kokila was shocked after knowing the truth and disowned Selvam. In the present, the police decide to simply pass another dustbin as Lakshmi. Nallasivam, an informal police informant, agrees to act as the perpetrator to “solve” the case. Over the phone, the police ask Maharaja to narrate the incident so that Nallasivam can act accordingly. Maharaja recounts the incident, but it is shown the events actually happened to Jothi. She had returned home from a sports camp organised by her P.T. teacher, Aasifa, while Maharaja was away. However, Selvam, Dhana, and Nallasivam had broken in to kill him as revenge for Selvam’s imprisonment and disowning. They had expected Maharaja to be home at that time, but he is late, and they instead blindfolded and brutally assaulted Jothi, with Nallasivam and Dhana raping her multiple times. Jothi was hospitalised and asked her father for the opportunity to confront the perpetrators. Enraged at his failure to protect her, he trashed the house and knocked himself unconscious, only being awakened by a snake. Thus, after killing Dhana, Maharaja invented the dustbin story to avoid detection at the police station. Varadharajan and his team take Nallasivam, now flustered, to Maharaja’s home to return the dustbin. Varadharajan reveals that his team had discovered Nallasivam’s and Selvam’s involvement in Jothi’s rape while investigating Dhana’s death; disgusted, they created the ruse to get him to Maharaja so he can kill him. After doing so, Maharaja arrives at a construction site where he is shocked to see Selvam, but incapacitates him and brings Jothi to him per her wish. Jothi tosses a bag of jewellery at his face and leaves with Maharaja and Aasifa. Inside, Selvam finds the gold chain that he had bought for Ammu’s birthday. It turned out that Maharaja, his wife, and their daughter had come to Kokila’s new house after Selvam’s arrest to return the chain; Kokila rejected it, associating it with her husband’s crimes. Maharaja was instead buying a toy for Ammu when the truck rammed into Kokila’s home, killing everyone but Ammu, who was saved by Kokila’s dustbin (Lakshmi). Maharaja adopted Ammu, changed her name to Jothi, and raised her as his daughter. In the present, Selvam sees a scar on Jothi’s shoulder, the same one as Ammu, and realises he unwittingly perpetuated his daughter’s rape and assault. Out of guilt, Selvam commits suicide by falling off the building, with the film concluding on Selvam’s blood seeping into Jothi’s footprint. After the success of (2017), was signed by Sudhan Sundaram’s Passion Studios to direct his next directorial under their production. However, the project was in for several years for unknown reasons. Nithilan then narrated the script to , who suggested to the director that he should narrate it to , which he did and impressed the actor. Nithilan, however, had to receive a (NOC) from Sundaram’s production house. The company was not in favour of passing the project to another house, therefore not giving the NOC. Soon after, the company then stated that they would narrate the script to , and if he declines being part of the film, they would pass the project. Sethupathi, who was impressed by the script, agreed to be part of the film, leading to him replacing Antony. Sundaram’s company made a public announcement on 1 February 2023, confirming the project. The project would signify Sethupathi’s 50th film as a lead actor. Tentatively titled , began shortly after a muhurat puja held the same day at a film studio in with the presence of the film’s cast and crew. On 12 July, in addition to the principal photography , the film’s official title, , was announced by the production houses. , and were announced to play the lead roles alongside Sethupathi, while , , , , , , , and would appear in the supporting roles. Dubbing works were completed by 31 December 2023. The music and background score is composed by , in his first collaboration with Sethupathi; second with Saminathan after . The second single “Raja Paya Onnu” was released on 15 June 2024, after the film’s release. had its official premiere in India on 12 June 2024, and was released theatrically on 14 June 2024. Apart from its original Tamil language, it was also dubbed and released in Telugu. The film was initially planned to be released in May 2024, but was later shifted to June due to unspecified reasons. It premiered in Los Angeles on 28 June 2024, as it was selected as one of the closing night selections at the . The film was released in China on 29 November 2024, in over 40,000 screens. NVR Cinemas bought the distribution rights of the film for and . AV Media Consultancy Release In Through. Mani’s Cine World, a Kerala-based distributor released the film across North India. The film began streaming on from 12 July 2024, and had its television premiere on 31 October the same year on . received critical acclaim from critics, who praised Sethupathi’s performance, Philomin’s editing, and Swaminathan’s screenplay and direction. On the website , 83% of 6 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10. Arjun Menon of gave 4/5 stars and wrote ” is a surprisingly novel outing, rejuvenating the tired tropes of revenge films with a morally challenging revelation in the final hour, that compensates for the little contrivances in the writing.” Manikandan KR of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote ” is a fairly good revenge/investigative drama that primarily works because of fine performances from its entire cast and some exceptional work by its stuntmen and stunt choreographer.” Goutham S of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote “Vijay Sethupathi stands out in the action-packed revenge flick with a well-written screenplay by Nithilan Swaminathan”. Rakesh Tara of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote ” is an ambitious attempt to blend serious societal issues with commercial cinema elements. While it succeeds in parts, particularly through strong performances and engaging music, it falls short in delivering a cohesive and compelling narrative.” Roopa Radhakrishnan of gave 3/5 stars and wrote “Vijay Sethupathi is wonderful in his 50th film, and he has a well-written role at his disposal.” Anusha Sundar of gave 3/5 stars and wrote ” is a film that feeds you information in every frame and second, so losing a grip on it might leave you unable to understand when the knots are tied.” Bhuvanesh Chandar of wrote ” is yet another sign of the serious filmmaker Nithilan is, and shows us how a good writer can convert even a dated idea into a gripping big-screen experience.” Latha Srinivasan of wrote “Director Nithilan Swaminathan and Vijay Sethupathi have delivered a film that’s definitely worthy of your time.” Swathi P Ajith of wrote ” is undoubtedly a thrilling revenge drama that deserves to be watched in theatres.” G.A. Gowtham of wrote that wears the crown of box office by its gripping screenplay. gave 48/100 and wrote this film gives punishment hiddenly to those who have similar thoughts on children. Janani. K of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote ” has a lot going on. Sadly, the hits and misses are not proportional, with the latter having the upper hand. These good moments get buried under dark humour, which hardly works, and many other shortcomings.” B. V. S. Prakash of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote “Director Nithilan deserves a pat since he makes the girl victim stronger and determined who wants to meet scrupulous characters and question them for their heinous act face-to-face and throws up another twist in the end.” Kirubhakar Purushothaman of gave 2/5 stars and wrote “The overarching problem with is its ‘wannabe’ nature to come across as a gritty, dark, and emotional rollercoaster. It is more concerned about how it wants to come across than what it really is.” grossed (US$560,000) on its opening day. The film earned (US$920,000) on the second day and (US$1.1 million) the third day. The film surpassed to become the third biggest opening for a Tamil film in 2024, behind and . It grossed an estimated (US$6.2 million) on its opening weekend of three days, becoming the highest opening weekend for a Tamil film in 2024. On its fourth day, the film crossed (US$5.7 million) from India, bringing its worldwide gross to (US$5.9 million). The film’s worldwide collection crossed (US$7.8 million) globally in five days earning (US$7.1 million) from Tamil Nadu. It grossed (US$9.1 million) in the six days of its release. The film became the fastest worldwide grosser for a Tamil film in 2024 and the fastest film of Sethupathi to reach the 50 crore mark. The film grossed (US$7.5 million) globally in seven days, becoming the highest grossing Tamil film of 2024 in its opening week. The film collected over (US$8.3 million) worldwide and over (US$5.7 million) from the Indian box office in nine days. It crossed the 80 crore mark at the box office worldwide in the 10 days of its release, grossing (US$9.7 million). After its release in China, it grossed 76.50 crores in the China box office, emerging the highest grossing Tamil film in China. After the success of the film, it was announced that acquired the Hindi remake rights, with its proprietor planning to portray Sethupathi’s role.</p>