Maharani Season 4: Another riveting season driven by strong performances

Subhash Kapoor worked as a political journalist for years before he veered towards filmmaking and made films like ‘Say Salaam India’, ‘Phas Gaye Re Obama’, ‘Jolly LLB’, ‘Guddu Rangeela’, ‘Jolly LLB 2’, ‘Madam Chief Minister’ and ‘Jolly LLB 3’. He seems to have used his experience as a political journalist while putting together ‘Maharani’, the first long-format series created by him.

The first season of the show showcased the journey of a woman, who could not read and write and had resigned herself to being a housewife, becoming the chief minister of Bihar. In the subsequent seasons, one saw Rani, played by Huma Qureshi, understanding and handling her responsibilities as the chief minister of the state, dealing with personal loss and finding ways to tackle her opponents. The fourth season of the show, directed by Puneet Prakash, has just started streaming on Sony LIV.

As the fourth season commences, one realizes almost a decade has passed since the events depicted in the last season of the show. Rani continues to serve as the chief minister of Bihar. Her children are all grown up now. While Roshni (Shweta Basu Prasad), the eldest of the three children, serves as an advisor to Rani and accompanies her to important meetings pertaining to the development of the state, son Jai Prakash (Shardul Bhardwaj) harbours political ambitions. Surya (Darsheel Safary), the youngest son, is pursuing higher studies in London.

The political space in India, meanwhile, is experiencing a lot of turbulence. 13 MPs belonging to the People Front in West Bengal have withdrawn their support from the central government. This becomes a cause of concern for Prime Minister Sudhakar Sriniwas Joshi (Vipin Sharma), who hopes to form a government with the support of regional parties again. Joshi’s team reaches out to Rani to support them on this matter. Rani, however, is not willing to join hands with Joshi.

The new season of ‘Maharani’ spawns across eight episodes. The biggest strength of the show is that each of the eight episodes keep you consistently engaged. Subhash Kapoor, who serves as the showrunner and writes the series along with Nandan Singh and Umashankar Singh, shows, yet again, that he has a solid understanding of the political milieu of India and how things move around in this space. Those who have a keen interest in politics will be able to relate to the proceedings very well. Even the ones who have limited understanding of the political climate in India would find the narrative to be engrossing. Every episode comes with its own set of twists and turns that keep you thoroughly engaged.

Huma Qureshi, yet again, breathes life into the character of Rani. This time around, she gets to depict Rani at an advancing age of her life. Her diction, body language, everything contributes towards the riveting performance she delivers. Vipin Sharma gets one of the best characters of his career and he sinks his teeth into it completely. Kani Kusruti takes the character of Kaveri ahead wonderfully with her confident act. Pramod Pathak leaves a mark again as Satyendranath Mishra. Vineet Kumar is brilliant as Gauri Shankar Pandey. Shweta Basu Prasad, who makes an entry in the series with this season, is highly effective. Shardul Bhardwaj delivers a standout performance as Jai Prakash. Darsheel Safary, despite limited screen time, makes his presence felt, especially in the final episodes of the series.

The fourth season of ‘Maharani’ ends on a dramatic note and sets the tone for the fifth season. Along with strong writing, the many incredible performances have played a key role in the success of the series. From season 1 to season 4, the series has been consistently watchable and one looks forward to see a new chapter in Rani’s life being unveiled in the fifth season.