''Maharaj Ki Jai Ho!'' (''Hail the King!'') is an Indian television

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

series that ran from 23 March 2020 to 20 May 2020 on

StarPlus StarPlus is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. Its programming consists of family dramas, romantic comedies, youth-oriented realit ...

, later shifted to

Star Utsav StarPlus is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. Its programming consists of family dramas, romantic comedies, youth-oriented reality sho ...

and streams on digital platform

Disney+ Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar, also known as JioHotstar or simply Hotstar, is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Disney Star. The brand was introduced as Hotstar for a streaming service carrying content from Di ...

. It starred

Satyajeet Dubey Satyajeet Dubey (born 21 July 1990) is an Indian voice and film actor, working in the Hindi film industry. He started his career with Roshan Abbas' ''Always Kabhi Kabhi''. Early life Satyajeet Dubey was born in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India ...

in the main lead role of Sanjay. The telecast of the show was hampered due to its low ratings during

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and the show had to decline without completing its story in May 2020.

Plot

Sanjay, a small-time pickpocket hailing from

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

travels back in time via a portal accidentally opened by the

time machine A time machine is a fictional or hypothetical device that allows time travel. Concept A time machine is a device that makes time travel possible. The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' distinguishes between two different types of time ma ...

of scientist Dr. Albert D'Souza to the period of

Mahabharat The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succes ...

during

Dhritarashtra Dhritarashtra () was a ruler of the ancient Kuru kingdom, featured as a central character in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is also attested in the ''Yajurveda'', where he is acknowledged as the son of King Vichitravirya. According to th ...

's reign in

Hastinapur Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'' is described as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas; it is also mentioned in ancient Jain ...

and causes chaos in the region. Sanjay crosses path with Sunaina, a thief (later revealed to be the Princess of Suryagarh) and love blossoms between them. Sanjay's journey afterwards is one of comedy and romance taking place in his life there and his eventual escape.

Cast

as Sanjay Arora: A petty con-man from Delhi *

Ashwin Mushran Ashwin Mushran is an Indian actor and voice over artist. He has appeared in numerous movies and plays. He is also featured in the movie '' Quick Gun Murugan'', as Dr. Django. He also lent his voice into dubbing several foreign media. Educati ...

as Dr. Albert D'Souza: Scientist who creates the time machine * Riya Sharma as Sunaina: Suryabhan's Daughter *

Nitesh Pandey Nitesh Pandey (17 January 1972 – 23 May 2023) was an Indian film and television actor. Career Pandey began doing theatre in 1990. In 1995, he got his first acting opportunity in a show called ''Tejas'' in which he played a detective, however ...

: The king of

Aakash Dabhade Aakash Dabhade (born 8 March 1985, in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India) is an Indian actor working in the Indian film industry. He is known as a versatile actor with great comic timing, expressions and dancing skills. He gained popularity for his por ...

Shakuni Shakuni (, , ) is one of the antagonists of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He was the prince of the kingdom of Gandhara when introduced, later becoming its king after the death of his father, Subala. He was the brother of Gandhari (Mahabharata), ...

* Rajesh Kumar as King Suryabhan: The enemy of King Dhritarashtra *

Monica Castelino Monica Castelino is an Indian former actress, who has primarily appeared in the Hindi film industry. After portraying the lead role in the Tamil film ''Minsara Kanna'' (1999), Castelino appeared in glamorous roles in Hindi films throughout the ...

Gandhari Gandhari (, ) is a prominent female character in the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. She is the daughter of King List of characters in the Mahabharata#Subala, Subala, the ruler of Gandhara kingdom, Gandhara, and becomes the wife of Dhritar ...

: Dhritarashtra's wife; The queen of Hastinapur *

Abhishek Avasthi Abhishek Avasthi (born 17 March 1982) is an Indian actor, choreographer, dancer and model. Biography Abhishek Avasthi was born in Kanpur, India.He came to Mumbai in the year 2004 as one of the 32 contestants who had won from across the cou ...

as Dhritarashtra's Senapati * Sumit Arora as Suryabhan's Senapati * Wahib Kapadia as Pratap a.k.a. Pappu: Suryabhan's son * Vaishnavi Rao as Padma, Sunaina's friend *

Sulakshana Khatri Sulakshana Khatri is an Indian actress who mainly works in television serials. She is mainly known for playing Mandavi Mandavi () is a princess of Videha in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. She is the wife of Bharata and is considered an inc ...

as Mandakini * Maera Mishra as Sweety

Production

Development

The first promo of the series was released on 19 March 2020. After the end of ''

Kahaan Hum Kahaan Tum ''Kahaan Hum Kahaan Tum'' (''Where Am I, Where Are You'') is an Indian romantic comedy drama television series that aired from 17 June 2019 to 14 March 2020 on StarPlus. Produced by Sandiip Sikcand under SOL Productions, it starred Karan V Gr ...

'', ''

Anupamaa ''Anupamaa'' is an Indian Hindi-language television drama series that premiered on 13 July 2020 on StarPlus and streams digitally on Disney+ Hotstar. Produced by Rajan Shahi and Deepa Shahi under the banner of Director's Kut Productions, it i ...

'' was supposed to take the slot from 16 March 2020. Due to the outbreak of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, as the shootings were stalled, its launch was pushed due to inadequate bank episodes and ''Maharaj ki Jai Ho! got'' the slot to premiere on 23 March 2020 as there was a bank of about 50 episodes.

Casting

was cast as the main lead Sanjay, returning to television after nine years. Speaking about his role, he said, "I play Sanjay in ''Maharaj Ki Jai Ho'', which is a situational comedy. My character is that of a rangeela, street-smart punter. Somehow, he goes back in time by 5,000 years and that's what piqued my interest." Besides Ashwin Mushran, Nitesh Pandey, Aakash Dabhade, Rajesh Kumar, Clair Castelino, Riya Sharma and Abhishek Awasthy were cast.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=12038858 StarPlus original programming Hindi-language television shows Indian drama television series Indian science fiction television series 2020 Indian television series debuts Hindu mythology in popular culture