Year of Production: 1998
Direction: Anil Sharma
Cast: Govinda, Manisha Koirala, Raj Babbar, Shakti Kapoor, Aruna Irani, Salim Ghouse

Maharaja – the only on-screen lip-lock in Govinda’s career so far, and also one of his most surprising movies! It was only after the third look on the DVD cover that I once realized that this is the very celebrity I like.

Synopsis: Young Kohinoor, born into a wealthy dynasty, is saved by nanny Ameenabi and has to flee from home in order to survive an assault on his family by Ranbir Singh. 20 years later it got around that Kohinoor (Govinda), now a young man, has certain magical powers and that he can communicate with animals. TV reporter Shaili (Manisha Koirala) tries to meet him to invite him to her show and to take profit in his abilities. Kohinoor, very simple-minded and trusting, falls for her immediately and does not realize her bad intentions. Then, suddenly he’s confronted with his past – facing a threat by Ranbir Singh.

Review: Maharaja – this has to be said – is one of my favorite movies and it’s really a nice piece of cinema. A perfectly entertaining movie with the sort of 80s special effects though being made at the end of the 90s. Even that fact just makes you laugh. Usually Shakti Kapoor is a big minus of every movie for me – here he’s bearable even though he’s stripping down to his undies. There’s lots of small scenes to make you feel happy and good and the songs are superb! Maharaja really has the perfect kind of soundtrack for a movie from this decade. The songs are all very loveable, especially the first track right at the beginning of the movie and Main Tera Deewana. Manisha and (Govinda likewise) is very convincing in her role and I liked that portrait she gave to her character on screen. And Kohinoor – well, he just makes you want to have such a sweet man at your home. Completely uncomplicated, loves animals and always reacts very kind. Govinda is surprising in this role, you wouldn’t recognize him as the man of comedies like Aankhen or Raja Babu, he’s absolutely different here. And that’s exactly what I like about Maharaja.

Rating: 8/10 points

Labels: govinda, kiss, maharaja, manisha koirala, review, shakti kapoor