Jaideep Ahlawat, who featured in Junaid Khan's debut film Maharaj, shared pictures of his drastic physical transformation. For the character, Jaideep became 83 kg from 109.7 kg within five months. Jaideep shared a few snapshots featuring before and after phases from his fitness regime. Sharing the pictures, Jaideep wrote, "From 109.7 Kg. to 83 Kg. in 5 month. That's the Physical Transformation for the Role of Maharaj. Thank you Prajwal Sir for believing in me @prajwal7542." The comments section of the post was swamped with compliments. Siddharth wrote, "Amazing bhai." Richa Chadha wrote, "Badiya." Bakhtiyaar Irani wrote, "Jahan se shuruwat hui thi wahi pe waapis... buss contact lenses aur chasme missing hai (You have reached the point from where you started. Only contact lenses and spectacles are missing)." Take a look at the post here:
Maharaj released on Netflix on June 21. The film opened to mixed reviews. In his review for NDTV, film critic Saibal Chatterjee wrote, "Maharaj picks a real-life story that is certainly not devoid of intrinsic merit. More than 160 years ago, a journalist, inspired and encouraged by social reformer and political leader Dadabhai Naoroji, crosses swords with a powerful religious leader of the Gujarati Vaishnav sect who wields enormous power over the community and sexually exploits his female devotees."
About Jaideep Ahlawat's performance, Saibal Chatterjee wrote, "Jaideep Ahlawat towers over everything and everyone else in the film with an understated performance that exudes creepy mendacity. He never raises his voice and holds on to a near-beatific expression broken only by a variety of suppressed smirks, crooked smiles and all-knowing grins, all hallmarks of a man who thinks he is God and wants his flock to turn a blind eye to his dark deeds."
Jaideep Ahlawat grabbed eyeballs with his terrific performance in the web series Paatal Lok. He also featured in series like Bloody Brothers, The Broken News, Bard of Blood. He shared screen space with Kareena Kapoor in the Netflix original Jaane Jaan.