Maharaja

 Maharaja

Maharaja ( The Great King) is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Nithilan Swaminathan, who co-wrote the script with Raam Murali. It is jointly produced by The Route, Think Studios and Passion Studios. The film stars Vijay Sethupathi in the titular role, alongside Anurag Kashyap, Mamta Mohandas, Natarajan Subramaniam, Abhirami Gopikumar, Singampuli, Aruldoss, Munishkanth, Sachana Namidass, Manikandan and Bharathiraja. In the film, a barber complains to the police that his "Lakshmi" has been robbed, only for them to find his intentions to be something else. 

Plot

Maharaja is a barber by profession living in Pallikaranai, Chennai. He works in Ramki saloon, a barbershop. One day, while he is buying a stuffed animal in a shop across the street from their house, a truck slams into the house, leading to his wife's death, but his daughter, Jothi, survives when a dustbin accidentally falls and covers her. Maharaja and Jothi later name the dustbin "Lakshmi" out of affection, and they anthropomorphize it. Maharaja later moves to a new place with Jothi, now a teenager, and Lakshmi. Maharaja is very protective of Jothi but is a very quiet person who is often critiqued by his fellow barbers. Jothi 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 duo that raid houses, rape women, and kill all the victims after taking the loot. On Selvam's toddler daughter Ammu's birthday, Sabari phones Selvam to inform him that a newspaper has published an editorial on their crimes without revealing their identity. Selvam happens to be in Ramki saloon for a beard trim during the phone conversation, and after hanging up the call, he suspects that Maharaja may have overheard the conversation. Selvam leaves the saloon but forgets a gold chain at the saloon that he wants to gift Ammu. As Maharaja visits Selvam's house to return it, policemen simultaneously arrive to arrest Selvam and Sabari. Police gun down Sabari and arrest Selvam in a humiliating fashion. Kokila, Selvam's wife, who was unaware of his criminal activities, keeps Ammu away from Selvam out of disgust, anger, and betrayal. Selvam stares at Maharaja, believing that Maharaja ratted him out.

Production

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. 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. 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.

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. 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.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. On 12 July, in addition to the principal photography wrapping, the film's official title, Maharaja, was announced by the production houses.

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. Dubbing works were completed by 31 December 2023.

Cast

Vijay Sethupathi as Maharaja, A Barber

Anurag Kashyap as Selvam,A Criminal

Mamta Mohandas as Aasifa

Natarajan Subramaniam as Inspector S. Varadharajan

Abhirami as Kokila

Divya Bharathi as Maharaja's wife

Singampuli as Nallasivam , The Man Who Raped Jyoti

Mohan Raman as Doctor Uncle

Poovaiyar as a salon staff

Lizzie Antony as a victim of robbery

Poster Nandakumar as a school Correspondent

Kaalaiyan as Councillor Karunakaran

Kalki as Police, a thief who steals TVS 50

P. L. Thenappan as a salon owner

Saravana Subbiah as Inspector

Vetrivel Raja as Constable Dhanapal

Bharathiraja as Gopal Thatha

Sreeja Ravi as Aasifa's mother

Pichaikkaran Moorthy as Cyber-crime staff

Sangeetha.V as Varadharajan's wife

Supergood Subramani as a toy shop owner

Mullai Arasi as a thief's wife

Aruldoss as SI R. K. Perumalsamy

Munishkanth as Constable Kuzhandhaivelu

Sachana Namidass as Jothi

Baby Shynika as Baby Jothi

Vinod Sagar as Sabari, Selvam's assistant

Manikandan as Dhana.

Soundtrack

The music and background score is composed by B. Ajaneesh Loknath, in his first collaboration with Sethupathi; second with Saminathan after Kurangu Bommai;and his fourth Tamil film after Kurangu Bommai, Richie (2017), and Nimir (2018). The first single "Thayee Thayee", sung by Sid Sriram and written by Vairamuthu, was released on 7 June 2024. The second single "Raja Paya Onnu" was released on 15 June 2024, after the film's release.

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

Box office

Maharaja grossed ₹4.7 crore (US$560,000) on its opening day. The film earned ₹7.75 crore (US$930,000) on the second day and ₹9 crore (US$1.1 million) the third day. The film surpassed Garudan to become the third biggest opening for a Tamil film in 2024, behind Captain Miller and Aranmanai 4.] 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. 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).

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. 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. 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. 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. 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).Release