Maharathi - a movie which would be one of 2008's best made movie ... had they not screwed up the ending! Yeah ... this is another of those movies which you think deserves a Filmfare until you are left disappointed and hungry towards the end. A 90-minute thriller of converting a suicide into a murder is what Maharathi is all about.

Its got some stalwarts - Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Boman Irani and Om Puri. Also stars Neha Dhupia and Tara Sharma. Maharathi is said to be based on one of the popular plays of Paresh Rawal. I won't really bother you with what the story is about ... its got a very interesting storyline though ... but not really a tale that's not been told before. 'Behind every big fortune lies a crime' or so they say ... and that's the core of the story.

The movie, though never ever bores you for a second, is not one without mistakes. Throughout the movie, Paresh Rawal keeps you puzzled ... is he the 'good guy' or is he not? You tend to doubt Tara Sharma too ... especially because of her innocent nerdy looks. Boman Irani is not spared too ... because Bolywood has taught us ... suspect the guy who's least involved in the crime ... problem is, there's really no crime here at all. You have seen movies where murders are converted into suicides ... here you see desperate attempts to convert a suicide into a murder ... and the director successfully shows you how tough it is ... and how its exactly like walking on the edge of a sword.

But the movie concludes pretty rapidly ... with lots of things happening in the last few minutes. Creativity was thoroughly lacking there. You have been taken through the tale which keeps you guessing ... but it doesn't finish off quite the dramatic way you'd like it to. Unnecessary events and rapidly changing circumstances ruin the end. And somehow, i'm not too happy that the winner won in the end ... somehow he did not look that deserved ... he has a dark shade to his character too ... but then, who doesn't ... and who doesn't like lots of money ... perhaps thats what the director wants us to understand. But, the movie is certainly a little bit screwed up unfortunately.

Go watch the movie ... it slipped away from the theaters silently ... but its got around by word of mouth. Its certainly worth a watch.

My rating: * * *