Maharshi

Maharshi

Year: 1987

Runtime: 132 mins

Language: Telugu

Director: Vamsy

Romance

After a college student becomes obsessed with a co-ed, she and her husband attempt to heal him, with dangerous consequences.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Maharshi (1987) – Full Plot Summary & Ending Explained

Read the complete plot breakdown of Maharshi (1987), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.

Maharshi is a carefree college student from a wealthy family who stands out on campus for his arrogance, a loyal gang of friends, playful taunts of lecturers, and a habit of roughing up classmates. His world begins to shift when he encounters Suchitra in college. She loathes him because of his rude behavior and refuses to engage when he approaches her. Undeterred, he takes a liking to her and tries to win her over by approaching her parents and flaunting his wealth. Suchitra resists, even as her parents show polite interest, and Maharshi’s attempts to impress become more aggressive as he begins to scare away the prospective grooms who come to Suchitra’s home.

Suchitra then reconnects with her childhood friend Tilak, a police sub-inspector in the same town, which adds a new layer to the conflict. Soon after, she signals a desire to marry Tilak, driven more by a plan to rid herself of Maharshi than by romantic longing. When Maharshi learns of this, he makes a desperate bid to stop the wedding and ends up at odds with the authorities, ultimately being locked up in a police station at the insistence of his own father. He clings to a painful suspicion that Tilak used his power as a sub-inspector to keep him confined, fueling a feud that spills over into tense confrontations at home. A confrontation escalates to violence when Maharshi attempts to strike Tilak at their house, only to halt when Suchitra herself opens the door. The strain takes a toll on him, and he sinks into depression, eventually requiring hospital treatment.

The saga takes a darker turn when Maharshi’s love for Suchitra is dramatized through a troubling incident: his friend Ramana drugs Suchitra and brings her to Maharshi’s home, under the troubling notion that Maharshi wants to sleep with her. The moment is deflating and clarifying for Maharshi, who immediately rebukes Ramana, insisting that what he seeks is Suchitra’s affection and genuine love rather than her body. He and Suchitra are careful to return her to safety, underscoring a complex dynamic of possession, care, and consent that threads through the relationships around him.

Tilak remains a catalyst, trying to bridge the rift by befriending Maharshi and helping him mingle with Suchitra in a more constructive way. As Maharshi begins to recover, a future framed by marriage is proposed, but the idea drives him into a fresh panic, and he runs off screaming. He ends up hospitalized again, and this time he manages to escape. In a shocking turn of events, Suchitra and Tilak have a baby together, changing the stakes of everyone’s lives. Maharshi, overwhelmed and desperate, abducts Suchitra’s newborn and flees into the city, the police on his trail. The pursuit culminates in a dramatic final fall: as he plummets from a building with the baby, he dies, saving the child and, in doing so, earns Suchitra’s lasting affection and a sense of closure to a harrowing chapter.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:36

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Characters, Settings & Themes in Maharshi

Maharshi Spoiler-Free Summary

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