Based on a play, 'Maharathi' has a stellar cast, who deliver without fuss. But sadly, the film isn't strong enough to back their talent entirely.'Maharathi' Synopsis: A street-smart newly recruited chauffeur partners with his employer's wife to pocket a hefty insurance claim, after his rich employer commits suicide. 'Maharathi' works in parts. The drama is dull at first, but picks up right after the billionaire commits suicide, but slows down again at places. Its the second-hour when the film comes to its potential & scores. The climax is well-done. However, the twist & turns are predictable. Uttam Gada's Screenplay is alright. Its never bad, but never exceptional either. The Dialogue, too, are very ordinary. Shivam Nair's Direction is good. He's handled some portions well. Cinematography is nicely done. Editing could've been sharper. Art & Costume Design are fair.Performance-Wise: 'Maharathi' has a terrific cast & almost all of them deliver. Paresh Rawal is superb as the street-smart opportunist, who seizes on the opportunity. His act doesn't miss a beat. Boman Irani, though his character is under-developed, is flawless as the mysterious lawyer. Om Puri has lesser screen-time, but plays it straight as the cop. Neha Dhupia is a surprise. She's convincing as the calculative, conniving wife. Tara Sharma is quite decent as the innocent care taker. Naseeruddin Shah is okay. The Late/Great Vivek Shauq lends fine support.On the whole, 'Maharathi' isn't razor-sharp, but good performances & some interesting moments make it a decent one-time watch.

a brilliant movie ... taking a risk of making a thriller which the Indian masses can understand is a big one.. though the multiplex audience (like me) loved the movie .. there are no romantic subplots or any item songs .. but just sheer acting and brilliant screenplay. a shot when the camera zooms out of a keyhole is one of the most brilliant scenes i have seen in Hindi cinema ... the protagonist looks like a young 30'sh year old fella, being done by paresh rawal (suresh in the movie), by great method acting. the movie urges the audience to think, like a thriller and the plot is an unpredictable one, for an Hindi movie, where almost everything is so predictable from the start .. the bad points are that tara sharma and neha dhupia have their limitations to act, is visible.. apart from them, and a few minor glitches, the movie is a must watch for someone seeking alternate bollywood cinematic experience...

Apparently based on a gujarati play that featured Paresh Rawal himself, this is a very interesting movie with some good twists and turns.A very interesting plot that seems original and well thought out. The movie starts off average, builds very well. Unlike most movies that seem to miss the bus at the end, this one does well at the end.The first half belongs to Naseeruddin Shah, the old eccentric one time successful film producer, who is now in debt and has a drinking problem. He is helped by Paresh Rawal in a car accident and subsequently, gives Rawal the job of a driver.His wife, Neha Dhupia is a gold-digger who constantly fights and wants him dead to then lay her hands on the hefty insurance policy.The story picks up when Naseer shoots himself and challenges her to prove that it was not suicide. If a suicide is proved, she doesn't receive any insurance. While the movie says that it will be because he has written that clause in the benefactor agreement, I believe most insurance companies offer no compensation in the case of a proved suicide.This is where Paresh Rawal enters the center stage and its brilliant to watch him transition from a demure master-worshiping driver to a scheming thug.Boman Irani, Neha Dhupia and Tara Sharma perform their parts well and are thoughtfully cast. While I wonder what Dhupia and Sharma were doing in the movie at first, I believe there has been some good thought put into their casting.The background score was non existent {didnt realize that there was one} and could have complemented the actors well. The director thankfully resists the temptation of item numbers.An interesting twist in the ending and a screenplay that makes a lot of sense.All in all, a great watch.

Based on a successful play by Paresh Rawal, "Maharathi" is said to be a thriller but I found it lacking the requisites of a tight thriller or a good murder mystery. The very start of the mystery sequence or murder scene pops up some questions which are enough to make you lose interest in the plot. The main blunder why I am calling it "An Unqualified Thriller" is made by the writer who penned it and the director who never questioned it.If the writer and director of a murder mystery think that putting a Dead Body in a deep freezer for many days will keep the time and day of the murder A Secret, then it simply means that they still have to get their facts right. It's the most childish forensic liberty taken ever in a crime movie.To make it simple, it's based on a plot where Naseer shoots himself in front of Paresh Rawal and Neha Dhupia and leaves them a challenge to prove his suicide as a murder if they can. Now in the next scene you see that Paresh & Neha both decide to put the dead Naseer in a deep freezer and plan to take him out after some days. And this is all done saying that putting the body in the freezer will never tell the day and time of the murder to anyone. And the whole movie moves around that freezer in which the body lies.The moment this came on screen I lost all my interest of seeing the talented star-cast together in a mystery movie. The movie has been shot competently but the writing leaves wide cracks open in the mystery. Paresh Rawal as always carries the movie on his shoulders and tries hard to make it convincing. Though the performances of Naseer, Neha and Boman were enjoyable and the director Shivam Nair also manages to shoot some good sequences. But the viewer cannot be served performances alone. The makers need to think that audiences have some to see a crime drama with twists and turns opening new angles to think.If a Murder Mystery raises too many questions and there are no answers to those queries in the narration then it doesn't qualify to be a good thriller. "Maharathi" is the best example to that. For example, Why Nasser kills himself and why not he kills his wife Neha instead to get rid of all troubles? Why he leaves everything inherited to Paresh whom he has met just few days ago? Ironically, there is a life insurance of 25 crores done by Nasser and he is living his life miserably all in debts. If he can manage to pay the premium of this huge sum then why he cannot pay his debts off? Tara Sharma, an architecture student, is kept as a house keeper who never visits the room of his sick employer and just keeps on washing floors. She is shown to be dumb and a night walker too but surprisingly she is sharp enough to help Paresh by giving false statement to the police knowing that he will never get caught.What is Boman Irani (The Lawyer) contribution to the plot? What was his relationship with Neha? Boman seems to be doing silly things in the climax, not expected from a well established Criminal Lawyer? Om Puri (completely wasted) enters as a detective and he is so experienced but he doesn't doubt Paresh and never questions him about background or his entry in the house just few days back. And in the climax he just shoots Boman, just like that as if it was an encounter. Why he doesn't shoot on his hand as a responsible officer? Apart from these there are so many questions which I can go on with but there is no use of listing them as they would not get any answers. But I must say that if a die-hard fan of Alfred Hitchcock, Agatha Christie, Felu-Da and Byomkesh Bakshi (like myself) watches this movie then he will not like to say anything but would only love to get back to the masters of mystery cinema as soon as possible and see or read any one of their creations again.Interestingly the plot of putting the dead body in a box (deep freezer here) is quite similar to that in Alfred Hitchcock's "Rope". You can watch "Maharathi" only if you can ignore the faulty plot and would love to see the performances of the talented actors together.