''Maharaj Ki Jai Ho!'' (''Hail the King!'') is an Indian television

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

series that ran from 23 March 2020 to 20 May 2020 on

Star Plus StarPlus is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly ''Star India''), a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. The network's programming consists of family dramas, comedie ...

, later shifted to

Star Utsav StarPlus is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly ''Star India''), a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. The network's programming consists of family dramas, comedies, ...

and streams on digital platform

Disney+ Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar (also known as Hotstar) is an Indian brand of subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Novi Digital Entertainment of Disney Star and operated by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, both ...

. It starred

Satyajeet Dubey Satyajeet Dubey (born 21 July 1990) is an Indian voice and film actor, working in the Hindi film industry. He started his career with Roshan Abbas' '' Always Kabhi Kabhi''. Early life Satyajeet Dubey was born in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, Indi ...

in the main lead role of Sanjay. The telecast of the show was hampered due to its low ratings during

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

and the show had to decline without completing its story in May 2020.

Plot

Sanjay, a small-time pickpocket hailing from

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...

travels back in time via a portal accidentally opened by the

time machine Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...

of scientist Dr. Albert D'Souza to the period of

Mahabharat The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuru ...

during

Dhritarashtra Dhritarashtra ( sa, धृतराष्ट्र, ISO-15919: Dhr̥tarāṣṭra) was a Kuru king, and the father of the Kauravas in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He was the King of the Kuru Kingdom, with its capital at Hastinapura. He was ...

's reign in

Hastinapur Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'', described in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom, is also mentioned in ancient Jain texts ...

and causes chaos in the region. Sanjay crosses path with Sunaina, a thief (later revealed to be the Princess of Suryagarh) where love blossoms. The journey follows comedy and romance taking place in his life there and his eventual escape.

Cast

as Sanjay Arora: A petty con-man from Delhi * Ashwin Mushran as Dr. Albert D'Souza: Scientist who creates the time machine * Riya Sharma as Sunaina: Suryabhan's Daughter *

Nitesh Pandey Nitesh Pandey (born 17 January 1973) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films and TV serials. He is better known for his role of Shah Rukh Khan's assistant in '' Om Shanti Om'' (2007). Career Pandey began doing theatre in 1990. In 1995, he ...

: The king of

Aakash Dabhade Aakash Dabhade (born March 8, 1985 in Nagpur, Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of th ...

Shakuni Shakuni ( sa, शकुनि, , ) plays a key role in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is one of the main antagonists of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He was the prince of the kingdom of Gandhara when introduced, later becoming its king ...

* Rajesh Kumar as King Suryabhan: The enemy of King Dhritarashtra *

Monica Castelino Monica Castelino is an Indian actress, who has primarily appeared in the Hindi film industry. After portraying the lead role in the Tamil film '' Minsara Kanna'' (1999), Monica appeared in glamorous roles in Hindi films throughout the 2000s. In ...

as Gandhari: Dhritarashtra's wife; The queen of Hastinapur *

Abhishek Avasthi Abhishek Avasthi (born 17 March 1982) is an Indian actor, choreographer, dancer and model. Biography Abhishek Awasthi was born in Kanpur, India. He, along with Rakhi Sawant, an Indian model and actress, participated in the third season o ...

as Dhritarashtra's Senapati * Sumit Arora as Suryabhan's Senapati * Wahib Kapadia as Pratap a.k.a. Pappu: Suryabhan's son * Vaishnavi Rao as Padma, Sunaina's friend *

Sulakshana Khatri Sulakshana Khatri is an Indian actress who mainly works in television serials. Filmography Films * ''Abu Kala'' (1990) * ''Meera Dataar'' (1999) * ''Angaar: The Fire'' (2002) * '' Krishna Aur Kans'' (2012) as Putna (voice role) Television R ...

as Mandakini * Maera Mishra as Sweety

Production

Development

The first promo of the series was released on 19 March 2020. After the end of '' Kahaan Hum Kahaan Tum'', '' Anupamaa'' was supposed to take the slot from 16 March 2020. Due to the outbreak of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

, as the shootings were stalled, its launch was pushed due to inadequate bank episodes and ''Maharaj ki Jai Ho! got'' the slot to premiere on 23 March 2020 as there was a bank of about 50 episodes.

Casting

was cast as the main lead Sanjay, returning to television after nine years. Speaking about his role, he said, "I play Sanjay in ''Maharaj Ki Jai Ho'', which is a situational comedy. My character is that of a rangeela, street-smart punter. Somehow, he goes back in time by 5,000 years and that's what piqued my interest." Besides Ashwin Mushran, Nitesh Pandey, Aakash Dabhade, Rajesh Kumar, Clair Castelino, Riya Sharma and Abhishek Awasthy were cast.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=12038858 StarPlus original programming Hindi-language television shows Indian drama television series Indian science fiction television series 2020 Indian television series debuts Hindu mythology in popular culture