Junaid Khan , son of Aamir Khan, made a quiet cinematic debut last month with Maharaj , a period film that, despite its royal title, witnessed little pageantry or fanfare. Directed by Siddharth P Malhotra, the film has 31-year-old Junaid essaying the role of Karsandas Mulji, a 19th-Century social reformer and journalist embroiled in a libel suit with a powerful godman. The film was dragged to court too, after members of a religious sect filed a petition claiming it could hurt sentiments and incite violence: it was cleared for streaming by the Gujarat High Court on June 27 .
“When the film’s release was pushed we were all a bit on edge,” Junaid admits. “I am thankful to the judiciary for seeing the film for what it is and allowing it to be released.” Indeed, Maharaj — which was certified by the CBFC in 2023 — courted little post-release trouble, the right-wing uproar on social media having comfortably died down following the HC ruling.
It was a fate unlike, say, that of Laal Singh Chadha , featuring Junaid’s father, who was the target of a vicious boycott campaign in 2022, or Annapoorani , which waded into controversy earlier this year for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and was pulled from Netflix. The acceptance of Maharaj by the wider public has been heartening, Junaid says. “This is a sensitively made film about a topic that is close to a lot of people.
Siddharth sir, our director, handled the subject quite responsibly. Our intention was never to h.
