Nithilan Saminathan’s Maharaja arrived as one of the great Indian thrillers of recent years. Vijay Sethupathi anchors a Tamil-language revenge story with a structural ingenuity that justifies every minute of its 141-minute runtime.
Without spoiling: the film begins as a procedural about a stolen dustbin (yes, a dustbin) and unfolds into something far more harrowing. The non-linear editing is doing genuine work — every flashback recontextualizes what you thought you understood.
Anurag Kashyap, in a rare on-screen role, is terrifying as the antagonist. The film deserved more attention than it got. Available now on Netflix with subtitles — watch it before someone spoils the structure.
