Of the many star kid debuts this year, Aamir Khan’s son Junaid Khan’s entry into the Hindi film industry as an actor was among the most anticipated. His first look for the film Maharaj, which also stars Jaideep Ahlawat, Shalini Pandey and Sharvari, left fans with high expectations and they eagerly waited for the release on June 14. However, just hours before it was meant to drop on the digital platform, a stay order was issued by the Gujarat High Court delaying the release. But last night, a week later, the stay order was lifted and Maharaj finally arrived on OTT. Well, movie-buffs who have already binge-watched the film are in awe of Junaid’s performance.
Based on the Maharaj Libel Case of 1862, the Siddharth P Malhotra directorial features Junaid as reformer and journalist Karsandas Mulji. He exposed religious leader Jadunathji Brijratanji Maharaj, played by Jaideep, in one of the most iconic legal battles in the history of our country. Well, the film has received a big thumbs-up from fans on Twitter. For instance, one Twitter review read: “Now watching #Maharaj on @NetflixIndia 🔥 Loving it till now. Excited to watch it. Junaid Khan will be a revelation. A natural. An actor is born. Jaideep Ahlawat is superb. Something completely different. A special word of praise for producer Aditya Chopra & director @sidpmalhotra.”
Lauding Junaid and his performance, another internet user shared, “This is perhaps going to be remembered as one of the strongest, most impactful Bollywood debut ever.” The fan went on to add, “In the initial scenes I was like oh he smiles like his father & he is being little clumsy but later on he made me forget all these and specially in the scenes with Jaideep Ahlawat and in the emotional breakdown scenes, Junaid’s acting sparked like anything! Too good!👏🏾 #Maharaj.” Meanwhile, a comment under the trailer on YouTube read: “Junaid Khan – that ‘Nepo Kid’ who can actually act good! Pretty impressed by his performance. From the debut film itself he is showing great potential.”
All in all, fans believe that Aamir’s son was born to act and are excited to see him shine onscreen again. Well, the wait won’t be too long because Junaid has already started shooting for his second film, a romantic comedy, with Janhvi Kapoor’s sister Khushi Kapoor.
