Maharaja | |
---|---|
Directed by | Nithilan Swaminathan |
Written by | Nithilan Swaminathan |
Dialogues by | Nithilan Swaminathan Raam Murali [1] |
Produced by |
Jagadish Palanisamy Sudhan Sundaram |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Dinesh Purushothaman |
Edited by | Philomin Raj |
Music by | B. Ajaneesh Loknath |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | see below |
Release date | 14 June 2024 |
Running time | 141 minutes [2] |
Country | India |
Language | Tamil |
Budget | ₹20 crore [4] |
Box office | est. ₹113 crore [5] |
Maharaja ( transl. The Great King) [a] is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film [6] [7] directed by Nithilan Swaminathan, who co-wrote the dialogues with Raam Murali. It is jointly produced by The Route, Think Studios and Passion Studios. The film stars Vijay Sethupathi in the title role, alongside Anurag Kashyap, Sachana Namidass, Mamta Mohandas, Natarajan Subramaniam, Abhirami, Aruldoss, Munishkanth, Manikandan, Singampuli and Bharathiraja. In the film, a barber tells the police that his Lakshmi, an iron dustbin is missing after a home theft, but the police begin to suspect his true intentions.
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 by 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. It had the highest opening weekend for a Tamil film in 2024, [8] [9] [10] and emerged as the year's highest-grossing Tamil film.
This article's plot summary may be
too long or excessively detailed. (June 2024) |
Maharaja is a barber by profession living in Pallikaranai, Chennai. He lost his wife in an accident where a truck slew into a house where she was sitting in with her daughter. His daughter, Jyothi survives the accident as a metal dustbin covers and protects her from the falling debris. Maharaja and Jyothi later name the dustbin as "Lakshmi" out of affection and they anthropomorphise it. Maharaja later moves to a new place with Jyothi, now a teenager, and Lakshmi. Jyothi is active in sports at school; she leaves the city for a sports camp in Coimbatore, accompanied by her sports teacher, Aasifa.
Meanwhile, Maharaja visits the local police station to report a robbery, citing that their dustbin Lakshmi has been robbed, much to the amusement of the station. He recounts the whole incident to them, saying that an armed gang raided his house, attacked him and took Lakshmi.The police initially snub the case, as they believe they cannot invest their efforts and time in finding a trivial object like an empty dustbin. Despite their constant snubbing and even violent threats, Maharaja stands his ground. They eventually accept the case once he promises a bribe of ₹5 lakhs upon finding the culprits. The policemen rope in Nallasivam, a convict turned informant, to find Lakshmi.
Past (2009): Selvam and Sabari are a dacoit gang, that raids houses, rapes and kill women after taking the loot. Sabari phones Selvam to inform that a daily has published an editorial on their crimes without revealing their identity. Selvam happens to be in Ramki saloon for a beard trim and Maharaja overhears the conversation. Selvam forgets a gold chain at the saloon, that he wanted to gift his toddler daughter Ammu. As Maharaja visits Selvam's house to return it, policemen simultaneously arrive to arrest Selvam and Sabari. Police gun down Sabari and arrests Selvam, in a humiliating fashion. Kokila, Selvam's wife, who was unaware of his criminal activities, out of disgust and anger, asks Selvam to stay away from Ammu. Selvam stares at Maharaja believing that Maharaja ratted him out.
Present (2023): A delinquent named Dhana, works in a local car service. A local politician beats and threatens him on an allegation that he stole his sunglasses from his car. Dhana seeks revenge as he beats him at a local bar, where Maharaja is also present. As the police continue to investigate the dustbin case, Nallasivam, helps get a dustbin cast and dented to make it look identical to "Lakshmi". To find wilful scapegoats, cops start calling thieves who take up such assignments, but they scoff at the idea of being accused for petty theft of a dustbin. Eventually, Nallasivam agrees to turn in as the criminal, saying that he has a penchant for acting. They ask Maharaja over speaker phone to narrate the entire incident once again so that Nallasivam could act accordingly.
Maharaja recounts the event in the same manner but the flashback reveals the actual event, where Jyothi had returned home, in the absence of Maharaja. Three men, revealed to be Selvam, Dhana, and Nallasivam, are present in the house to kill Maharaja, but the latter isn't present. They physically assaulted Jyothi, leaving her battered and unconscious, while Nallasivam then rapes her twice. Upon reaching home, Maharaja, finds her in a violated state and hauls up her to the hospital. Jyothi requests her dad that she wants to confront the man responsible for this. After admitting Jyothi in the hospital, Maharaja returns home and, out of frustration and anguish he beats himself unconscious. When he wakes up, he sees a toll plaza receipt with the local politician's car number which eventually leads him to Dhana. Maharaja follows him and a fight ensues between them, with Maharaja having the upper hand and asks who were his accomplices on the day of robbery. Dhana tells him that one of them is inside the police station itself, and stabs Maharaja in his thigh. Before Dhana could escape Maharaja beheads him.
Inspector Varadharajan and his fellow policemen convince Nallasivam, now looking rather flustered, to spend the night at their place so that they can comfortably reach Maharaja's place the next day to return the dustbin. Nallasivam enacts and confesses his 'crime' of stealing the dustbin, while Maharaja too realizes that Nallasivam is one of the actual perpetrators. Varadharajan compels Maharaja to give him an appropriate punishment, thereby revealing that they had also found out Nallasivam's involvement in crime. While investigating Dhana's death, they found his phone, with Nallasivam calling him. Further inquiring with Maharaja's phone number, and with the doctor's information about Jyothi, they had carried out the ruse of bringing Nallasivam to Maharaja. The police handover Nallasivam to Maharaja, giving him freedom to punish Nallasivam, with Varadharajan and team bearing the responsibility. Maharaja kills Nallasivam, but not before finding out who the third accomplice is. Maharaja arrives at the construction site where Selvam works and the two men physically fight. Eventually, Maharaja incapacitates Selvam, and Aasifa brings Jyothi to Selvam. Jyothi proceeds to insult Selvam, and then tosses a bag full of jewellery at his face, assuming that he had come there for that. Selvam finds a gold chain much akin to what he had bought for Ammu on her birthday – the very set that Maharaja had come to return.
It is now revealed that after Selvam's arrest, Maharaja, his wife, and daughter had come to Kokila's new house to return the jewellery set. When Maharaja had gone to buy Ammu a gift, a truck rammed into Selvam's house, killing everyone but Ammu, who is saved by Lakshmi. Maharaja adopts Ammu and raises her as his own daughter, Jyothi. As Selvam sees a scar on Jyothi's shoulder, similar to that on toddler Ammu's shoulder, he realizes that he, unwittingly, had been complicit in the rape and assault of his own daughter. Selvam, out of guilt falls off the building and dies as Ammu walks out with Maharaja and Aasifa.
After the success of Kurangu Bommai (2017), Nithilan Swaminathan was signed by Sudhan Sundaram's Passion Studios to direct his next directorial under their production. [11] However, the project was in development hell for several years due to unknown reasons. Nithilan then narrated the script to G. Dhananjayan, who suggested to the director that he should narrate it to Vijay Antony, which he did and impressed the actor. [12] Nithilan, however, had to receive a No-objection certificate (NOC) from Sundaram's production house. The company was however not in favor 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 Vijay Sethupathi, and if he denies being part of the film, they would pass the project. [13]
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 as Sethupathi's 50th film as a lead actor. [14] Tentatively titled VJS50, principal photography began shortly after a muhurat puja held the same day at a film studio in Chennai with the presence of the film's cast and crew. [15] Jagadish Palanisamy's The Route and Think Studios later joined as co-producers. In early April, Sundaram stated that fifty of eighty-five filming days were completed, and only ten days were remaining for Sethupathi. [16] On 12 July, in addition to the principal photography wrapping, the film's official title, Maharaja, was announced by the production houses. [17]
Anurag Kashyap, Mamta Mohandas and Natarajan Subramaniam were announced to play the lead roles alongside Sethupathi, while Divya Bharathi, Abhirami, Aruldoss, Munishkanth, Manikandan, Singampuli, Bharathiraja, Vinod Sagar and P. L. Thenappan would appear in the supporting roles. [18] Dubbing works were completed by 31 December 2023. [19]
Maharaja | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | 7 June 2024 | |||
Recorded | February–July 2023 | |||
Studio | Sound Town Studio,
Chennai RM Studio, Chennai Abbs Studios, Bangalore | |||
Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
Length | 3:08 | |||
Language | Tamil | |||
Label | Junglee Music | |||
Producer | B. Ajaneesh Loknath | |||
B. Ajaneesh Loknath chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Maharaja | ||||
|
The music and background score is composed by B. Ajaneesh Loknath, in his first collaboration with Sethupathi; second with Saminathan after Kurangu Bommai; [20] and his fourth Tamil film after Kurangu Bommai, Richie (2017), and Nimir (2018). [21] Junglee Music acquired the audio rights of the film. [22] [23] The first single "Thayee Thayee", sung by Sid Sriram and written by Vairamuthu, was released on 7 June 2024. [24] The second single "Raja Paya Onnu" was released on 15 June 2024, after the film's release. [25]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Thayee Thayee" | Vairamuthu | Sid Sriram | 3:08 |
2. | "Raja Paya Onnu" | Vairamuthu | Jithin Raj Harshika Devanath | 4:05 |
Total length: | 7:13 |
Maharaja was theatrically released on 14 June 2024 in theatres. [26] Apart from its original Tamil language, it was also dubbed and released in Telugu. [27] A press screening was held two days prior to the release, 12 June. [28] It was initially planned by the makers to release in May 2024, but was later shifted to June due to unspecified reasons. [29] The film will have its Los Angeles Premiere on 28 June 2024, as it was selected as one of the closing night selections at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. [30]
NVR Cinemas bought the distribution rights of the film for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. [31] [32] Tentkotta, which would distribute in association with Simbaaaa Productions, acquired the distribution rights for the United States and Australia, [33] [34] and Ahimsa Entertainment did so for the UK. [35] United Indian Exporters acquired the overseas distribution rights of the film, [36] and released the film themselves in Sri Lanka and Germany and in the company of X Gen Studios in Singapore. [37] [38]
The digital streaming rights were acquired by Netflix and the satellite rights by Star Vijay. [39] [40] The film was premiered on Netflix from 12 July 2024. [41]
Maharaja received positive reviews from critics, who praised Sethupathi's performance, Philomin's editing, Swaminathan's screenplay and direction. [42] [43]
Arjun Menon of Rediff.com gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Maharaja 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." [44] Manikandan KR of Times Now gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Maharaja 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." [45] Goutham S of Pinkvilla 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". [46] Rakesh Tara of ABP News gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Maharaja 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." [47]
Roopa Radhakrishnan of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Vijay Sethupathi is wonderful in his 50th film, and he has well-written role at his disposal." [48] Anusha Sundar of OTTPlay gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Maharaja 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." [49] Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu wrote "Maharaja 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." [50] Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "Director Nithilan Swaminathan and Vijay Sethupathi have delivered a film that’s definitely worthy of your time." [51] Swathi P Ajith of Onmanorama wrote "Maharaja is undoubtedly a thrilling revenge drama that deserves to be watched in theatres." [52]
Janani. K of India Today gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Maharaja 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." [53] B. V. S. Prakash of Deccan Chronicle 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." [54] Kirubhakar Purushothaman of The Indian Express gave 2/5 stars and wrote "The overarching problem with Maharaja 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." [55]
Maharaja grossed ₹4.7 crore (US$560,000) on its opening day. [56] The film earned ₹7.75 crore (US$930,000) on the second day and ₹9 crore (US$1.1 million) the third day. [56] [57] The film surpassed Garudan to become the third biggest opening for a Tamil film in 2024, behind Captain Miller and Aranmanai 4. [58] It grossed an estimated ₹52.6 crore (US$6.3 million) on its opening weekend of three days, becoming the highest opening weekend for a Tamil film in 2024. [59] On its fourth day, the film crossed ₹48.50 crore (US$5.8 million) from India, bringing its worldwide gross to ₹50 crore (US$6.0 million). [60] [61]
The film's worldwide collection crossed ₹66 crore (US$7.9 million) globally in five days earning ₹60 crore (US$7.2 million) from Tamil Nadu. [62] It grossed ₹77 crore (US$9.2 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. [8] The film grossed ₹63.50 crore (US$7.6 million) globally in seven days, becoming the highest grossing Tamil film of 2024 in its opening week. [63] The film collected over ₹70 crore (US$8.4 million) worldwide and over ₹48 crore (US$5.8 million) from the Indian box office in nine days. [64] It crossed the ₹80 crore mark at the box office worldwide in the 10 days of its release, grossing ₹81.8 crore (US$9.8 million). [65]
A barber sets out for revenge after his home is broken into in this Tamil-language action thriller.
Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi has made a massive return to the silver screen with his latest action-packed thriller, 'Maharaja,' which has been met with enthusiastic acclaim from Kerala audiences.
Maharaja | |
---|---|
Directed by | Nithilan Swaminathan |
Written by | Nithilan Swaminathan |
Dialogues by | Nithilan Swaminathan Raam Murali [1] |
Produced by |
Jagadish Palanisamy Sudhan Sundaram |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Dinesh Purushothaman |
Edited by | Philomin Raj |
Music by | B. Ajaneesh Loknath |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | see below |
Release date | 14 June 2024 |
Running time | 141 minutes [2] |
Country | India |
Language | Tamil |
Budget | ₹20 crore [4] |
Box office | est. ₹113 crore [5] |
Maharaja ( transl. The Great King) [a] is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film [6] [7] directed by Nithilan Swaminathan, who co-wrote the dialogues with Raam Murali. It is jointly produced by The Route, Think Studios and Passion Studios. The film stars Vijay Sethupathi in the title role, alongside Anurag Kashyap, Sachana Namidass, Mamta Mohandas, Natarajan Subramaniam, Abhirami, Aruldoss, Munishkanth, Manikandan, Singampuli and Bharathiraja. In the film, a barber tells the police that his Lakshmi, an iron dustbin is missing after a home theft, but the police begin to suspect his true intentions.
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 by 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. It had the highest opening weekend for a Tamil film in 2024, [8] [9] [10] and emerged as the year's highest-grossing Tamil film.
This article's plot summary may be
too long or excessively detailed. (June 2024) |
Maharaja is a barber by profession living in Pallikaranai, Chennai. He lost his wife in an accident where a truck slew into a house where she was sitting in with her daughter. His daughter, Jyothi survives the accident as a metal dustbin covers and protects her from the falling debris. Maharaja and Jyothi later name the dustbin as "Lakshmi" out of affection and they anthropomorphise it. Maharaja later moves to a new place with Jyothi, now a teenager, and Lakshmi. Jyothi is active in sports at school; she leaves the city for a sports camp in Coimbatore, accompanied by her sports teacher, Aasifa.
Meanwhile, Maharaja visits the local police station to report a robbery, citing that their dustbin Lakshmi has been robbed, much to the amusement of the station. He recounts the whole incident to them, saying that an armed gang raided his house, attacked him and took Lakshmi.The police initially snub the case, as they believe they cannot invest their efforts and time in finding a trivial object like an empty dustbin. Despite their constant snubbing and even violent threats, Maharaja stands his ground. They eventually accept the case once he promises a bribe of ₹5 lakhs upon finding the culprits. The policemen rope in Nallasivam, a convict turned informant, to find Lakshmi.
Past (2009): Selvam and Sabari are a dacoit gang, that raids houses, rapes and kill women after taking the loot. Sabari phones Selvam to inform that a daily has published an editorial on their crimes without revealing their identity. Selvam happens to be in Ramki saloon for a beard trim and Maharaja overhears the conversation. Selvam forgets a gold chain at the saloon, that he wanted to gift his toddler daughter Ammu. As Maharaja visits Selvam's house to return it, policemen simultaneously arrive to arrest Selvam and Sabari. Police gun down Sabari and arrests Selvam, in a humiliating fashion. Kokila, Selvam's wife, who was unaware of his criminal activities, out of disgust and anger, asks Selvam to stay away from Ammu. Selvam stares at Maharaja believing that Maharaja ratted him out.
Present (2023): A delinquent named Dhana, works in a local car service. A local politician beats and threatens him on an allegation that he stole his sunglasses from his car. Dhana seeks revenge as he beats him at a local bar, where Maharaja is also present. As the police continue to investigate the dustbin case, Nallasivam, helps get a dustbin cast and dented to make it look identical to "Lakshmi". To find wilful scapegoats, cops start calling thieves who take up such assignments, but they scoff at the idea of being accused for petty theft of a dustbin. Eventually, Nallasivam agrees to turn in as the criminal, saying that he has a penchant for acting. They ask Maharaja over speaker phone to narrate the entire incident once again so that Nallasivam could act accordingly.
Maharaja recounts the event in the same manner but the flashback reveals the actual event, where Jyothi had returned home, in the absence of Maharaja. Three men, revealed to be Selvam, Dhana, and Nallasivam, are present in the house to kill Maharaja, but the latter isn't present. They physically assaulted Jyothi, leaving her battered and unconscious, while Nallasivam then rapes her twice. Upon reaching home, Maharaja, finds her in a violated state and hauls up her to the hospital. Jyothi requests her dad that she wants to confront the man responsible for this. After admitting Jyothi in the hospital, Maharaja returns home and, out of frustration and anguish he beats himself unconscious. When he wakes up, he sees a toll plaza receipt with the local politician's car number which eventually leads him to Dhana. Maharaja follows him and a fight ensues between them, with Maharaja having the upper hand and asks who were his accomplices on the day of robbery. Dhana tells him that one of them is inside the police station itself, and stabs Maharaja in his thigh. Before Dhana could escape Maharaja beheads him.
Inspector Varadharajan and his fellow policemen convince Nallasivam, now looking rather flustered, to spend the night at their place so that they can comfortably reach Maharaja's place the next day to return the dustbin. Nallasivam enacts and confesses his 'crime' of stealing the dustbin, while Maharaja too realizes that Nallasivam is one of the actual perpetrators. Varadharajan compels Maharaja to give him an appropriate punishment, thereby revealing that they had also found out Nallasivam's involvement in crime. While investigating Dhana's death, they found his phone, with Nallasivam calling him. Further inquiring with Maharaja's phone number, and with the doctor's information about Jyothi, they had carried out the ruse of bringing Nallasivam to Maharaja. The police handover Nallasivam to Maharaja, giving him freedom to punish Nallasivam, with Varadharajan and team bearing the responsibility. Maharaja kills Nallasivam, but not before finding out who the third accomplice is. Maharaja arrives at the construction site where Selvam works and the two men physically fight. Eventually, Maharaja incapacitates Selvam, and Aasifa brings Jyothi to Selvam. Jyothi proceeds to insult Selvam, and then tosses a bag full of jewellery at his face, assuming that he had come there for that. Selvam finds a gold chain much akin to what he had bought for Ammu on her birthday – the very set that Maharaja had come to return.
It is now revealed that after Selvam's arrest, Maharaja, his wife, and daughter had come to Kokila's new house to return the jewellery set. When Maharaja had gone to buy Ammu a gift, a truck rammed into Selvam's house, killing everyone but Ammu, who is saved by Lakshmi. Maharaja adopts Ammu and raises her as his own daughter, Jyothi. As Selvam sees a scar on Jyothi's shoulder, similar to that on toddler Ammu's shoulder, he realizes that he, unwittingly, had been complicit in the rape and assault of his own daughter. Selvam, out of guilt falls off the building and dies as Ammu walks out with Maharaja and Aasifa.
After the success of Kurangu Bommai (2017), Nithilan Swaminathan was signed by Sudhan Sundaram's Passion Studios to direct his next directorial under their production. [11] However, the project was in development hell for several years due to unknown reasons. Nithilan then narrated the script to G. Dhananjayan, who suggested to the director that he should narrate it to Vijay Antony, which he did and impressed the actor. [12] Nithilan, however, had to receive a No-objection certificate (NOC) from Sundaram's production house. The company was however not in favor 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 Vijay Sethupathi, and if he denies being part of the film, they would pass the project. [13]
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 as Sethupathi's 50th film as a lead actor. [14] Tentatively titled VJS50, principal photography began shortly after a muhurat puja held the same day at a film studio in Chennai with the presence of the film's cast and crew. [15] Jagadish Palanisamy's The Route and Think Studios later joined as co-producers. In early April, Sundaram stated that fifty of eighty-five filming days were completed, and only ten days were remaining for Sethupathi. [16] On 12 July, in addition to the principal photography wrapping, the film's official title, Maharaja, was announced by the production houses. [17]
Anurag Kashyap, Mamta Mohandas and Natarajan Subramaniam were announced to play the lead roles alongside Sethupathi, while Divya Bharathi, Abhirami, Aruldoss, Munishkanth, Manikandan, Singampuli, Bharathiraja, Vinod Sagar and P. L. Thenappan would appear in the supporting roles. [18] Dubbing works were completed by 31 December 2023. [19]
Maharaja | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | 7 June 2024 | |||
Recorded | February–July 2023 | |||
Studio | Sound Town Studio,
Chennai RM Studio, Chennai Abbs Studios, Bangalore | |||
Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
Length | 3:08 | |||
Language | Tamil | |||
Label | Junglee Music | |||
Producer | B. Ajaneesh Loknath | |||
B. Ajaneesh Loknath chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Maharaja | ||||
|
The music and background score is composed by B. Ajaneesh Loknath, in his first collaboration with Sethupathi; second with Saminathan after Kurangu Bommai; [20] and his fourth Tamil film after Kurangu Bommai, Richie (2017), and Nimir (2018). [21] Junglee Music acquired the audio rights of the film. [22] [23] The first single "Thayee Thayee", sung by Sid Sriram and written by Vairamuthu, was released on 7 June 2024. [24] The second single "Raja Paya Onnu" was released on 15 June 2024, after the film's release. [25]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Thayee Thayee" | Vairamuthu | Sid Sriram | 3:08 |
2. | "Raja Paya Onnu" | Vairamuthu | Jithin Raj Harshika Devanath | 4:05 |
Total length: | 7:13 |
Maharaja was theatrically released on 14 June 2024 in theatres. [26] Apart from its original Tamil language, it was also dubbed and released in Telugu. [27] A press screening was held two days prior to the release, 12 June. [28] It was initially planned by the makers to release in May 2024, but was later shifted to June due to unspecified reasons. [29] The film will have its Los Angeles Premiere on 28 June 2024, as it was selected as one of the closing night selections at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. [30]
NVR Cinemas bought the distribution rights of the film for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. [31] [32] Tentkotta, which would distribute in association with Simbaaaa Productions, acquired the distribution rights for the United States and Australia, [33] [34] and Ahimsa Entertainment did so for the UK. [35] United Indian Exporters acquired the overseas distribution rights of the film, [36] and released the film themselves in Sri Lanka and Germany and in the company of X Gen Studios in Singapore. [37] [38]
The digital streaming rights were acquired by Netflix and the satellite rights by Star Vijay. [39] [40] The film was premiered on Netflix from 12 July 2024. [41]
Maharaja received positive reviews from critics, who praised Sethupathi's performance, Philomin's editing, Swaminathan's screenplay and direction. [42] [43]
Arjun Menon of Rediff.com gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Maharaja 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." [44] Manikandan KR of Times Now gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Maharaja 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." [45] Goutham S of Pinkvilla 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". [46] Rakesh Tara of ABP News gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Maharaja 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." [47]
Roopa Radhakrishnan of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Vijay Sethupathi is wonderful in his 50th film, and he has well-written role at his disposal." [48] Anusha Sundar of OTTPlay gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Maharaja 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." [49] Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu wrote "Maharaja 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." [50] Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "Director Nithilan Swaminathan and Vijay Sethupathi have delivered a film that’s definitely worthy of your time." [51] Swathi P Ajith of Onmanorama wrote "Maharaja is undoubtedly a thrilling revenge drama that deserves to be watched in theatres." [52]
Janani. K of India Today gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Maharaja 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." [53] B. V. S. Prakash of Deccan Chronicle 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." [54] Kirubhakar Purushothaman of The Indian Express gave 2/5 stars and wrote "The overarching problem with Maharaja 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." [55]
Maharaja grossed ₹4.7 crore (US$560,000) on its opening day. [56] The film earned ₹7.75 crore (US$930,000) on the second day and ₹9 crore (US$1.1 million) the third day. [56] [57] The film surpassed Garudan to become the third biggest opening for a Tamil film in 2024, behind Captain Miller and Aranmanai 4. [58] It grossed an estimated ₹52.6 crore (US$6.3 million) on its opening weekend of three days, becoming the highest opening weekend for a Tamil film in 2024. [59] On its fourth day, the film crossed ₹48.50 crore (US$5.8 million) from India, bringing its worldwide gross to ₹50 crore (US$6.0 million). [60] [61]
The film's worldwide collection crossed ₹66 crore (US$7.9 million) globally in five days earning ₹60 crore (US$7.2 million) from Tamil Nadu. [62] It grossed ₹77 crore (US$9.2 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. [8] The film grossed ₹63.50 crore (US$7.6 million) globally in seven days, becoming the highest grossing Tamil film of 2024 in its opening week. [63] The film collected over ₹70 crore (US$8.4 million) worldwide and over ₹48 crore (US$5.8 million) from the Indian box office in nine days. [64] It crossed the ₹80 crore mark at the box office worldwide in the 10 days of its release, grossing ₹81.8 crore (US$9.8 million). [65]
A barber sets out for revenge after his home is broken into in this Tamil-language action thriller.
Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi has made a massive return to the silver screen with his latest action-packed thriller, 'Maharaja,' which has been met with enthusiastic acclaim from Kerala audiences.