Srikara Studios, Sithara Entertainments and Fortune Four Cinemas’ Daaku Maharaaj (dubbed from the Telugu film of the same name; UA) is the story of a do-gooder who is forced to resort to crime to put an end to all criminal activities.
Nanaji (Nandamuri Balakrishna) joins tea estate owner Krishna Murthy (Sachin Khedekar) as his driver. He also tends to Krishna Murthy’s little grand-daughter, Vaishnavi (Veda Agarwal). MLA Thirumala Naidu (Ravi Kishan) secretly grows cocaine on the tea estate. Krishna Murthy warns Naidu to refrain from growing cocaine, but Naidu starts troubling Krishna Murthy thereafter.
Here, the Maharashtra police are on the lookout for Nanaji. Also, Balwant Singh Thakur (Bobby Deol) is thirsting for Nanaji’s blood. Why are the police and Balwant Singh Thakur after Nanaji? Who is Daaku Maharaaj?
The story is routine and offers almost no novelty. K. Chakravarthy Reddy’s screenplay is quite predictable because it treads the beaten path. Some comedy punches are entertaining. A couple of emotions touch the heart. But besides the above, there is not much for the audience to remain invested in the drama. The pace slackens after interval. Climax should’ve been far more impactful. Dialogues are so-so.
Nandamuri Balakrishna does well as Nanaji, but he looks too old to be the solo hero. Bobby Deol acts ably as Balwant Singh Thakur. Sachin Khedekar lends good support as tea estate owner Krishna Murthy. Ravi Kishan is entertaining as MLA Thirumala Naidu. Baby Veda Agarwal is alright as Vaishnavi. Pragya Jaiswal is adequate as Kaveri, wife of Nanaji. Makarand Deshpande is okay as Govind. Shraddha Srinath has her moments as Balwant Singh Thakur’s wife, Nandini. Urvashi Rautela does an average job as the caretaker of Vaishnavi. Shine Tom Chacko, Chandhini Chowdary and the others lend routine support.
Bobby Kolli’s direction is ordinary. His narration doesn’t uplift the routine drama to any appreciable level. Thaman S.’s music is quite alright. Lyrics pass muster. Song picturisations are quite appealing. Thaman S.’s background music is very nice. Vijay Karthik Kannan’s cinematography is eye-filling. Venkat’s action and stunt scenes afford a lot of thrill. Avinash Kolla’s production designing is appropriate. Editing (by Niranjan Devaramane and Ruben) ought to have been sharper. Dubbing is proper.
On the whole, Daaku Maharaaj will not be able to do anything substantial at the box-office because it is a routine fare and also because it has hardly been promoted. A middle-aged hero (who looks far from young) leading the cast is another minus point.
Released on 24-1-’25 at Gemini (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by Jai Viratra Entertainment Ltd. thru Filmastra Studios. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull everywhere.
