Maharani 3 Review | A Middling Political Drama With an Interestingly Poised Central Character

Maharani 3, the third season of SonyLIV’s political thriller, shows the character’s progression, and in this season, we have the character in a more mature and commanding position. While the character’s evolution looks pretty impressive, there is this issue of predictability of the texture, that makes it slightly less exciting. The dialogue exchange with metaphors and the political games are the elements that make this deep dive into Bihar politics look interesting on screen. But the structure has become so familiar through the initial seasons that we almost feel as smart as Rani Bharti, making the series less of a surprise package and more of a drama.

The third season begins with Rani Bharti being in jail for the third year as she was accused of the death of her husband, Bheema Bharti. Naveen Kumar’s government had not filed a chargesheet in three years, knowing there was no solid evidence against Rani. What we see in season 3, is the master plan for Rani to take revenge for her husband’s death and how that eventually rattles the politics of Bihar and her life.

The character pool Subhash Kapoor has established for Maharani is really huge, and when you sort of look at the character’s travel from Season 1 to Season 3, you can see that it wasn’t achieved through broad strokes. In fact, when you see Rani confront some of the key players in the murder of Bheema Bharti in this season, we can sense the eventful political journey of Rani through all those events that disrupted the corrupt system. There is one bit in the final episode of the third season where Rani and Bheema are having this imaginary conversation where Bheema makes her realize that, knowingly or unknowingly, she has become that politician whom she hated a few years ago.

The evolution of Rani Bharti in Maharani is actually the most impressive and creative part of the series, in my opinion. The rest of it has this familiarity issue. It is something that I fear going ahead with series like Mirzapur, Panchayat, etc., could have if they don’t try to reinvent. In season 1, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi’s equation as the inspiration for the base concept kept us hooked, and in season 2, it was the curiosity to know how they would create a fictional detour. The thing is, with these two seasons, the series succeeds in registering how everything works in the political hemisphere of a state like Bihar. So when it comes to season 3, even though the numerous characters and their interconnection with the plot keep us engaged in seeing the development of this house of cards, you are not particularly startled by any of the power play.

Huma Qureshi showcases the gear shift of Rani Bharti very convincingly in her third reprisal of the character. Unlike the other seasons, the evidently vulnerable bits are relatively less in this season, and with the way things have ended this time, Subash Kapoor intends to take the political thriller outside Bihar. Amit Sial as Naveen Kumar gets more limelight and prominence this time as the hasty decision maker. Atul Tiwari reprises the role of the governor in his signature style. Dibyendu Bhattacharya is there as the relentless IAS officer Martin Ekka in that calm and composed demeanor. Vineeth Kumar and Mohammad Aashique Hussain, as the animated political rats, looked convincing this time also. Anuja Sathe, Pramod Pathak, Kani Kusruti, and several others are in the star cast with prominence but with minimal screen time in the series.

There is no denying the fact that watching Maharani is pretty much like watching an extended Prakash Jha film. The kind of political summersaults that are actually happening in real Bihar is so bizarrely dramatic that somewhere deep down I feel awkward about criticizing this series’ writing for being overly dramatic. On the whole, Maharani season 3 is a passable, predictable drama that neither bores you nor excites you.