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The actor and his first director Siddharth P. Malhotra were in a conversation when they spoke about Junaid’s decision not to be on social media read more
 "'Never felt the need to…'")
The movie 'Maharaj' starring Junaid Khan has courted controversy. Image Courtesy: Instagram/netflix_in
Junaid Khan and Siddharth P. Malhotra gave a lot of interviews for their film Maharaj, produced by Yash Raj Films and that’s now streaming on Netflix. While talking to Instant Bollywood, Junaid said he doesn’t really feel the need to be on Instagram. And his director adds, “We need to learn from him, he spends all his focus and energy on his work.”
The film has been mired in controversies ever since it has been announced due to its sensitive subject. It’s based on the libel case that happened back in 1862. It sees Jaideep Ahlawat as the culprit named Maharaj Jadunath aka JJ, who uses naïve women as sexual pawns under the garb of religion and beliefs. The volatility of the narrative didn’t allow the film to have a release for a week, when it finally streamed on Netflix from June 21 onwards.
In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, Junaid and Siddharth spoke about the film, the controversy it has created, and much more.
When asked about saying yes immediately to the story, Junaid revealed, “More or less. I really liked the story. I really liked Sid sir’s past work. Yash Raj is one of the biggest producers in the country today probably. So I didn’t see any reason not to do it. I had full faith that Sidharth would handle the film since the subject is sensitive. I had full faith that he would handle it with sensitivity and care and make sure that it’s correctly portrayed.”
On his prep
I think we prepared for about a year. He’s a real person but not too many people have an idea about his personality. We only have access to his writings that are in the public domain, his articles, his newspaper. So deriving a personality from what he wrote, which was something that, I think we did beautifully. And then we worked on rehearsals and getting it properly. Though as a reformer, I know it’s the introduction initially. The untouchables would announce they are passing by and asked people to move away. And that guy gets scared when my character is introduced. He asks ‘Why are you doing this to me? You want me to get in trouble?’ So it shows that he’s above and all those things. So that gives you the nobility. We are talking about a story, about a man in today’s times in 1862 who’s beyond all this.
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English (US) ·