Maharani 2 review: It takes a corrupt village to bring down a good woman in politics

'Maharani 2' dropped on SonyLIV on August 25, 2022. (Image: Twitter/SonyLIV)

The narrative may be familiar but the twists in the plot are still surprising. The ensemble cast fits perfectly in the world of corrupt politics, powerless police and trigger-happy ‘bahubalis’. And the rapidly advancing screenplay keeps you glued to the screen. SonyLIV has hit this one out of the park.

Let me confess: I had stayed away from the first season of Maharani because I have lived in Patna, and I didn’t want to hear the word ‘burbak’ being used to show that the writers living in Bombay ‘know Bihar’. There are way too many movies from the South dubbed in Hindi where villains speak fake Bhojpuri. But after watching Season 2 of Maharani, I actually watched Season 1. And even though Season 2 stands on its own, I was compelled to watch Season 1. The show is that good.

That it reflects real-life politics is a plus. An illiterate wife of a seasoned politician is set up on the chief minister’s chair and everyone treats her with disdain while her incarcerated husband rules from jail. But the woman pulls up her socks and manages to upstage these conniving men.

Speaking of conniving, Sohum Shah, Atul Tiwari, Amit Sial, Vineet Kumar and Pramod Pathak represent corrupt political figures responsible for the sorry state of Bihar in the show, ruled as it is by corruption and misogyny, casteism and greed…

Facing this battery of saheb and his bahubalis and his rivals is a lone figure of illiterate housewife Rani Bharati turned puppet chief minister (the wonderful Huma Qureshi) aided by a quiet IAS officer Kaveri Shreedharan (played with a quiet dignity by Kani Kusruti) who helps her stand on her feet in political matters and is also a sounding board in personal matters. How does she manage to get anything done?

Huma Qureshi won my heart when she said, ‘When I used to work in the fields, I was fit, by sitting in the CM office, I have put on so much weight’. This universal truth was made nicer because we know she’s a simple homebody forced to work in a hostile environment. Plus, she gets the accent just right. ‘Mota gaye hain’ is said with so much self-deprecation, my heart went out to Rani Bharati and I hoped she would not turn out to be yet another ambitious, avaricious female politician.

The show pits ‘anubhav’ (experience) against data, and if the show weren’t titled Maharani and focused on Huma Qureshi, a spinoff ought to be in the works. A show about paid political strategists who will do anything to win at elections. Rani Bharati’s political rival, the leader of the opposition, Navin Kumar (played with dignity by Amit Sial) believes that he can win with the help of data and strategy. He brings in a political consultant/strategist whose character has not been fleshed out enough in this show or we’d be fascinated to watch machinations at another level!

Other politicians don’t think computers are going to help win elections in a state where corruption is so deep-rooted. Dirt is collected on rivals in an old-fashioned way (photographers following them not too discreetly, media being used to start rumours and so on), rivals are killed, voting machines are stolen, and guns are used to intimidate democracy.

Huma Qureshi plays her part so well, I found myself talking to her, ‘Watch out for Atul Tiwari! He’s plotting something behind the scenes!’ The wretched events that unfold in front of us make Rani Bharati a sympathetic figure. Especially when we know that she is too naive to see that her husband has been sidetracked by another woman Kirti Singh (you don’t want to but will love her: Anuja Sathe plays the role so well). But when Rani Bharati deals with errant police heads, we know that this show has been written by people who knew how the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is rumoured to have dealt with corrupt men in the police. The reference to ‘Goongi Gudia’ is also well timed in the show. Writers Subhash Kapoor (who also created the show), Nandan Singh, Umashankar Singh, please take a bow!

Dibyendu Bhattacharya who plays Martin Ekka in the show, has been severely underused. His talent shines despite the size of the role! Vineet Kumar who plays Gauri Shankar Pandey has reprised the role of a corrupt politician so well you’d think he does not need to be briefed for this role! Atul Tiwari is perfect as the man behind the scenes. But the one character that stays with you is that of a learned man, Mishraji, who remains in the background advising the politician - it's been played brilliantly by Pramod Pathak. Picture the scene: Mishraji has worked tirelessly and has been loyal to the politician Bhima Bharati finds himself insulted and is now at home. Rani Bharati’s envoy Kaveri visits him to invite him to change his master and work for Rani Bharati. What he says will stay with you: I may be questioning my boss’ political move, I may have even argued with him, but don’t question my loyalty…

The show released on SonyLIV on August 25, 2022. The look that Huma Qureshi gives us at the end of episode 10, made me look forward to season 3. And yes, I did catch up on the first season as well.