Junaid, Jaideep Ahlawat open up on facing difficulties over ‘Maharaj’

Junaid Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat and filmmaker Siddharth P Malhotra finally talked about facing a ‘hiccup’ before the release of their film ‘Maharaj’ and said that they didn’t intend to hurt anyone’s sentiments and that the film was made with sensitivity.

Junaid, who made his debut with ‘Maharaj’, based on events related to the 1862 Maharaj Libel Case, stirred controversy before its release after a stay order was passed on a plea that claimed that the film hurt certain religious sentiments.

On June 13, the Gujarat High Court lifted its temporary stay on the release of ‘Maharaj’ on ‘Netflix’, as it was claimed it didn’t target the religious sentiments of a certain sect as alleged by its members.

Talking to a leading media house, Malhotra said that the film was written based on the book and the court case available against an ideology.

“I really don’t know what to say because my film, when we wrote the script based on the book or the details of the court case available, is against one man’s ideology. Junaid (in the film) says, ‘Meri problem inse nahi, inke soch se hai’. He is fighting against just one person’s ideology and not the community,” said the director.

He stressed that neither he nor his team would hurt anyone’s sentiments. “Even with Jaideep Ahlawat, in his entire take said sorry for what his character did. He never does because his character thinks what he is doing is right. So, it’s a clash of ideologies,” he said.

For the director, it was a ‘David and Goliath’ story. “Now that people have seen the film, they have understood that we never intended not even one person’s sentiment,” he said.

Junaid said that the film was made with a lot of ‘sensitivity’. “It’s a sensitive film and Sid sir has made it with a lot of sensitivity as well. I think at the end the film came out and people liked it. So, I think in the end we have not hurt anybody.”

Jaideep said that they ‘intended to make this film as a story’: “Which is actually about a few things but never against something that they should feel hurt about those emotions. Our intentions were clear to not hurt anyone’s sentiments and that’s how we came out as winners.”