Maharaja

Maharaja (2024) came out of Tamil cinema and became one of the most talked about thrillers of the year, including well outside India. A barber walks into a police station and reports a burglary. What was taken is called Lakshmi, and he will not explain what that means. The officers are confused and so, deliberately, are you. The structure is not linear. The film jumps back and forth and withholds when each scene is taking place. When the pieces line up you have to go back and rethink what you watched. Vijay Sethupathi plays almost the entire film in silence, which is the opposite of how a star of his standing is usually used. Anurag Kashyap, a well known director in his own right, appears here as an actor. It runs 141 minutes and includes two songs, both of which interrupt the tension. Good for: non linear thrillers, revenge stories, and viewers curious about South Indian cinema beyond its reputation for spectacle. Less good for: sexual violence is central to the plot and some scenes are hard. If you enjoy guessing ahead, this one is built to resist that, so do not watch it tired.