Aamir Khan's son Junaid made his film debut with Netflix's Maharaj, and he has been getting a lot of appreciation for his performance. The Quint caught up with Junaid and Maharaj's director Malhotra P Siddharth to speak about the uncertainty in the release owing to a case filed against the movie, casting Junaid in the role of journalist Karsan Das Muji and more.
There was a stay in the release of Maharaj when the members of the Vaishnavite sect Pushtimarg moved the Gujarat High Court alleging that the film contains “scandalous and defamatory language, which affects the Pustimargi sect as a whole”. They further alleged that the film’s release is “likely to incite feelings of hatred and violence against the sect”. Addressing this Siddharth said, "We shot the film three years back, but the wait to release it was never-ending. Also, the film is about one man's ideology and not the entire community. We knew we had a good film and we never made it with the intention of hurting anyone."
To which Junaid added, "People who saw the film also felt that there was nothing that could hurt anyone."
Junaid also spoke about how, growing up, his mother Reena Dutta ensured that he and his sister stay away from the limelight. "Ira and I are also a little older, and the presence of social media wasn't that aggressive as it is today. Growing up, access to information was a lot and our mom ensured that we had our heads on our shoulders."
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Editor: Veeru Krishan Mohan
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