''Maharani'' () is an 2021 Indian
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
-language
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
streaming television
Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...
series created by
Subhash Kapoor
Subhash Kapoor is an Indian film director, and screenwriter. He was a political journalist, and later became known for directing satirical comical dramas like ''Phas Gaye Re Obama'' (2010), ''Jolly LLB'' (2013) and ''Jolly LLB 2'' (2017).
Ca ...
. Season 1 of the series is directed by Karan Sharma and Season 2 will be directed by Ravindra Gautam. The series stars
Huma Qureshi as the protagonist along with
Sohum Shah,
Amit Sial
Amit Sial (born 1 July 1975) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. He has also worked in various series like Maharani, Jamtara - Sabka Number Ayega, Kathmandu Connection and Inside Edge.
Early and personal life
He m ...
,
Kani Kusruti
Kani Kusruti (born 12 September 1985) is an Indian actress and model. She first gained recognition in 2009 with the film '' Kerala Cafe'', where her performance was critically acclaimed. Kani won the Best Actress at Kerala State Film Awards in ...
and
Inaamulhaq
Inaamulhaq (born 14 November 1979) is an Indian actor and screenwriter who has been part of several commercial and critically acclaimed Bollywood films, including ''Filmistaan'', '' Jolly LLB 2'' and ''Airlift''. In 2019 Inaamulhaq has bagged t ...
. The political multi-seasons series is partly inspired by what happened in Bihar in the 1990s when
Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former List of Chief Ministers of Bihar, Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Ministry of Railways (India), Railway ...
made his homemaker wife
Rabri Devi
Rabri Devi Yadav (born 1 January 1955) is an Indian politician who formerly served three terms as the Chief Minister of Bihar, the first and only woman till date to have held the office. She is a Member of Bihar Legislative Council (MLC), and ...
his successor. The story of season 1 is from 1995 to 1999 and is inspired from real life events and characters like
Ranvir Sena
The Ranvir Sena is a militia functioning as a landlord group, mainly based in the state of Bihar, India. The group was formed by Bhumihar landlords in 1994, with the aim to counter the influence of various left-wing militants, Naxalite groups ...
,
left-wing militants,
Naxalite groups , the
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation
The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation (abbreviated: CPI(ML)L or CPI-ML(L) or CPIML Liberation) also referred to as the Liberation Group, is a Communist political party in India.
History
In 1973 the original Commun ...
, 1997
Laxmanpur Bathe massacre
The Laxmanpur Bathe massacre was a massacre conducted in the Laxmanpur Bathe village in Arwal district of Bihar, where 58 scheduled caste people were allegedly killed by members of the Ranvir Sena in retaliation for the Bara massacre in whi ...
,
Fodder Scam
The Fodder Scam was a corruption scandal that involved the embezzlement of about from the government treasury of the north Indian state of Bihar. ,
Brahmeshwar Singh. The story of season 2 is from mid-1999 and is inspired from real life events and characters like
Shilpi-Gautam Murder,
Sadhu Yadav
Anirudh Prasad Yadav, better known as Sadhu Yadav (born 5 July 1967), is an Indian politician and founder of Garib Janta Dal (Secular). He has served in 14th Lok Sabha as MP of Gopalganj from 2004 to 2009 as Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candid ...
,
Rajiv Goswami
Rajiv Goswami (12 June 1971 - 24 February 2004) was a commerce student at the Deshbandhu College, Delhi University who came into prominence when he attempted self-immolation on 19 September 1990 to protest against Prime Minister V.P. Singh's imp ...
,
Shibu Soren
Shibu Soren ( Santali: ᱥᱤᱵᱩ ᱥᱚᱨᱮᱱ) (born 11 January 1944) is an Indian politician who thrice served as Chief Minister of Jharkhand, first in 2005 for 10 days (2 March to 12 March), then from 2008 to 2009 and again from 2009 to ...
,
Mohammad Shahabuddin
Mohammad Shahabuddin (10 May 1967 – 1 May 2021) was a politician and former Member of Parliament from the Siwan constituency in the state of Bihar. He was a former member of the National Executive Committee of the Janata Dal and the Rasht ...
,
Prashant Kishor
Prashant Kishor, colloquially known as PK, is an Indian political strategist and tactician. A public health expert by training, who worked with the United Nations for eight years before venturing into Indian politics and working as a political ...
, Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and
2000 Bihar Legislative Assembly election.
Maharani premiered on
SonyLIV
SonyLIV is an Indian Over-the-top media services, over-the-top freemium Streaming media, streaming platform owned by Culver Max Entertainment. SonyLIV was introduced in 2013 as the first Over-the-top media service, OTT service in India. As a s ...
on 28 May 2021.
The teaser of the second season was launched on 16 July 2022 and the trailer was released on 1 August 2022.
The second season was launched on 25 August 2022 on
SonyLIV
SonyLIV is an Indian Over-the-top media services, over-the-top freemium Streaming media, streaming platform owned by Culver Max Entertainment. SonyLIV was introduced in 2013 as the first Over-the-top media service, OTT service in India. As a s ...
.
Premise
This is a fictional story, where Rani Bharti is a homemaker and the wife of Bihar's chief minister Bheema. All she cares about is her house and her husband. She wants to pack her bags and go back to the village after her husband resigns from the post of Bihar's CM. But her life takes a turn when her husband and Bihar's CM is made to announce the name of his successor. While his party members look excited to hear who has been appointed, he makes Rani his successor, leaving everyone surprised.
Season 1
After being shot, the Bihar CM Bheema Bharti unexpectedly names his wife Rani as his successor. An uneducated woman who was content with her simple ways of living and her regular family life has to now deal with government files she couldn’t read, corruption, and caste massacres within the state. With the caste arithmetic, traditional satraps, and the emerging voices of dissent, will an illiterate woman, Rani Bharti survive this?
Season 2
As Bheema Bharti runs a proxy government from prison, CM Rani Bharti is accused of misgovernance while Bihar fights anti-incumbency, jungle raj, and corruption. Lawlessness has gripped the state of Bihar and the opposition holds Rani responsible for the state’s ‘jungle raj’.
Facing a constant turmoil of opposition from her own party and dealing with a husband and political enemies who are obstinately plotting to overthrow her government, she is forced to make some moves that will disrupt the whole political scenario. With elections right around the corner, will Rani's acumen turn victorious, given her own husband is her greatest enemy?
Cast
*
Huma Qureshi as Rani Bharti, wife of Bihar's chief minister Bheema
*
Sohum Shah as Bihar's chief minister Bheema Bharti (season 1-2)
*
Amit Sial
Amit Sial (born 1 July 1975) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. He has also worked in various series like Maharani, Jamtara - Sabka Number Ayega, Kathmandu Connection and Inside Edge.
Early and personal life
He m ...
as Navin Kumar, chief of Bihar People's Party
* Pramod Pathak as Satyendranath Mishra, RJSP chief secretary
*
Kani Kusruti
Kani Kusruti (born 12 September 1985) is an Indian actress and model. She first gained recognition in 2009 with the film '' Kerala Cafe'', where her performance was critically acclaimed. Kani won the Best Actress at Kerala State Film Awards in ...
as Kaveri Sridharan, Rani's secretary
*
Inaamulhaq
Inaamulhaq (born 14 November 1979) is an Indian actor and screenwriter who has been part of several commercial and critically acclaimed Bollywood films, including ''Filmistaan'', '' Jolly LLB 2'' and ''Airlift''. In 2019 Inaamulhaq has bagged t ...
as Parvez Alam
*
Vineet Kumar
Vineet Kumar is an Indian actor. The veteran actor from National School of Drama, is known for his works in Hindi, Telugu, and English language films and Television. He is best known for his works in films such as '' Masaan'','' Drohkaal'', ' ...
as Gauri Shankar Pandey
* Tanu Vidyarthi as Khyati
*
Harish Khanna as Shankar Mahto
* Mohammad Aashique Hussain as Prem Kumar Chaubey
* Sushil Pandey as Kunwar Singh
* Kannan Arunachalam as DGP Siddhant Gautam
* Atul Tiwari as Governor Govardhan Daas
* Pankaj Jhaa as Diwakar Jhaa
*
Anuja Sathe as Kirti Singh
* Neha Chauhan as Kalpana Kaul, director of political consultancy firm, I-ACT.
* Neeraj Kashyap
* Anushka Kaushik as Shilpa Agarwal
* Sukumar Tudu as Dulari Yadav
* Robin Das as Ekkal Munda
*
Ansha Sayed
Ansha Sayed is an Indian actress. She is best known for portraying Sub-Inspector Purvi in '' C.I.D.''. Her other notable roles include Leelavati on '' Laagi Tujhse Lagan'', Jenny in ''Rang Badalti Odhani.''
Career
Ansha Sayed has appeared in ...
as Sanjana Dutt
* Danish Iqbal as Dilshad Mirza
* Leysan Karimova as Zehra Shaikh
*
Dibyendu Bhattacharya
Dibyendu Bhattacharya is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema and Bengali cinema And web series. He is best known for his role in '' Dev D.'' and as Layak Talukdar in ''Criminal Justice'', 2019 Hotstar
Disney+ Hotstar (also known as ...
as Martin Ekka
* Kumar Saurabh as Sanyasi Rai
* Pranay Narayan as Kamta Prasad
* Agasthya Shanker as Jagganath Tripathi
* Vishwa Bhanu as Hemraj
*
Alok Chatterjee as Mukhiya
Episodic Synopsis
Production
Sohum Shah gained a 12 kg to get look of the politician Bheema, which has been modelled on the basis of
Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former List of Chief Ministers of Bihar, Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Ministry of Railways (India), Railway ...
. In November 2020, some portions were shot in Kachnariya Kothi,
Bhopal
Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...
. In April 2021, the shooting for web series was also done in
Legislative Assembly (LA) Jammu complex of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state and
Govt. Gandhi Memorial Science College, Jammu. Around 250 local artists from the theatre and cultural department in Jammu and Kashmir were brought in for the web-series. Some drone shots of
J.P. Setu and
Buddha Smriti Park
Buddha Smriti Park also known as Buddha Memorial Park (as translated in English) is an urban park located on Frazer Road near Patna Junction in Patna, India. This park has been designed by Vikram Lall and developed by the Bihar Government to ...
were also shown in the web series. The shooting of Maharani was completed in seven months.
Reception
Critical response
Season 1
Writing for The ''
Firstpost
''Firstpost'' is an Indian online news and media website. The site is a part of the Network 18 media conglomerate owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18.
The ''Network 18'' group was originally owned by Raghav ...
'', Prathyush Parasuraman gave the series 3 stars and stated that Huma Qureshi shines in a sanitised portrayal of
Rabri Devi
Rabri Devi Yadav (born 1 January 1955) is an Indian politician who formerly served three terms as the Chief Minister of Bihar, the first and only woman till date to have held the office. She is a Member of Bihar Legislative Council (MLC), and ...
. Rohan Naahar stated in The Hindustan Times that the series is over-plotted yet underwritten. Archika Khurana wrote in Times of India that the web series is engaging at most times.
''
The Times Of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
'' described it as a “well-structured screenplay”, while Biz Asia pointed out how the show brings the importance of virtue to the forefront. Actress
Twinkle Khanna
Twinkle Khanna (also known as Tina Jatin Khanna; born on 29 December) is an Indian author, columnist, interior designer, film producer and a former film actress.
In 2015, she released her first non-fiction book, " Mrs Funnybones" which was decl ...
praised the performance of Huma Qureshi in the web series. Actor
Shatrughan Sinha
Shatrughan Prasad Sinha (born 9 December 1945) is an Indian actor and politician. He is a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Asansol (Lok Sabha constituency), Asansol constituency as a member of All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). Earlier he ...
also praised Maharani and said that Huma Qureshi has the potential of becoming a role model for other artists.
Rishita Roy Chowdhury of ''
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...
'' said the series is about Saheb, Biwi aur Bihar. Rohit Vats of ''
News18
Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (formerly SGA Finance and Management Service and Network18 Fincap Limited) commonly referred to as the Network18 Group and sometimes as the Network18–Eenadu Group, is an Indian media conglomerate owned b ...
'' gave Maharani 2.5 stars. ''
The Quint
''The Quint'' is an English and Hindi language Indian general news and opinion website founded by Raghav Bahl and Ritu Kapur after their exit from Network18. The publication's journalists have won three Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Aw ...
'' mentioned that Maharani lives up to the hype. Aditya Menon in
The Quint
''The Quint'' is an English and Hindi language Indian general news and opinion website founded by Raghav Bahl and Ritu Kapur after their exit from Network18. The publication's journalists have won three Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Aw ...
wrote that the web series trid to invert the ‘Jungle Raj’ tag that was put on the Lalu Yadav-Rabri Devi period in Bihar. Saibal Chatterjee of ''
NDTV
New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...
'' wrote that Maharani is a passable account of a state fighting steady decline and seeking regeneration.
Shubhra Gupta of ''
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...
'' stated that Huma Qureshi flourishes in a web series with banal writing.
Subhash. K.Jha called it a taut political drama with surprising twists and turns. Nandini Ramnath of
Scroll.in
''Scroll.in'', simply referred to as ''Scroll'', is an Indian digital news publication owned by the Scroll Media Incorporation. It publishes content in both Hindi and English languages. Founded in 2014, the website and its journalists have won ...
wrote that the cast of Maharani has brilliant performances.
Rony Patra from ''LetsOTT'' stated that strong characters and an authentic Bihari milieu coupled with “bombastic dialogues” made the series a gripping watch. Rishita Roy Chowdhury of India Today went on to applaud Huma Qureshi's performance saying” she brings nuances and emotional gradients to her character.
Bollywood Life called it a sensational and intriguing game of political chess. Kriti Tulsiani from ZoomTV wrote that the show boasts of a captivating premise but falls victim to the makers’ linear storytelling approach.
BINGED called it a well-crafted chronicle of a story that needed telling.
Spotboye made the parallel with Scam 1992, calling it another big winner for SonyLIV.
Season 2
''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
'' gave it 3.5 stars out of 5 while stating that it is “An enthralling political drama with compelling performances.” Shashank Pandey of ''
Dainik Bhaskar
''Dainik Bhaskar ''is India's largest Hindi-language daily newspaper owned by the Dainik Bhaskar Group. According to Audit Bureau of Circulations, it is ranked 3rd in the world by circulation and is the largest newspaper in India by circula ...
'' also gave the series a 3.5 out of five and hailed it as, ‘Emotion aur entertainment ki Maharani.’ ''
ABP News
ABP News is an Indian Hindi-language free-to-air television news channel owned by ABP Group. The news channel was launched in 1998 originally as STAR News before being acquired by ABP Group. It won the Best Hindi News Channel award in the 21st ...
'', with its 4 stars out of 5, mentioned that ‘Maharani continues to rule the world of OTT’.
Abhimanyu Mathur of ''
Hindustan Times
''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia.
It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...
'' remarked ‘Huma Qureshi reigns supreme in a show that is a lesson in how political thrillers should be made.’ Namrata Thakur of Rediff said, ‘The second season of Maharani 2 is bigger, better, and far more brutal’.
''
TV9'' said that the second season was ‘Full of Unexpected twists and turns and gave it 4 stars out of 5.
Zoya Bhatti of ''
ThePrint
The Print is an Indian online newspaper, owned by Printline Media Pvt Ltd. It was launched by journalist Shekhar Gupta in August 2017.
History
Printline Media Pvt. Ltd, founded by journalist Shekhar Gupta, was incorporated in New Delhi, India ...
'' gave the Huma Qureshi starrer a 3.5 out of 5, commenting “Maharani 2 sees Rani Bharti go from political pawn to queen bee.”
Nandini Ramnath from ''
Scroll
A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing.
Structure
A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyrus ...
'' called the series “Another, more focused, round of self-serving politics.” ''
Koimoi’s'' Shubham Kulkarni also gave the second season 3.5 stars out of 5 and said, “Huma Qureshi Continues To Reign.”
Controversy
After the release of first trailer on 9 May 2021, the Yadav community protested over a dialogue in the web series and filed
FIR.
The makers of web series later apologized and removed that dialogue from the web series.
See also
*
Madam Chief Minister
''Madam Chief Minister'' is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language political drama film directed by Subhash Kapoor. The film stars Richa Chadda in the lead role. The film's official announcement was made by Chadda on 12 February 2020. The film was shot ...
*
List of caste based violence in Bihar
*
Khakee: The Bihar Chapter
*
Article 15
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, tt14420552
*
Maharani' Official Website
2021 Indian television series debuts
Television series based on actual events
Hindi-language television shows
Indian drama web series
Hindi-language web series