Maharani Trailer: Huma Qureshi As Rani Bharti Confronts Political And Patriarchal Muck

Huma Qureshi in Maharani trailer looks as much a powerhouse politician as she does a common, everyday woman. Simply because, as the trailblazing Rani Bharti, she is both. The television series, premiering May 28, looks at the real-life rise of a woman, from being the wife of a leader to clinching the top Chief Minister seat, in a first for Bihar in the 1990s.

The series, created by Subhash Kapoor, tracks an unnerved, hesitant Rani Bharti as she makes the tough ascent to power, her walkway lined with blood, gore, corruption and deep-seated, brutal patriarchy in its rawest form.

Maharani begins streaming on SonyLIV from May 28.

Balancing The Act Of Domesticity & Public Life: Huma Qureshi In Maharani Is All About That

A ">trailer released May 20 shows Rani Bharti take on the mantle - not via her own agency - of state leadership after her husband is critically injured. Torn between her expertise in slapping up cow dung cakes and marked inexperience with politics - the latter far more pungent than the former - Rani Bharti seasons herself for the job, on the job, leading the way with nudges from party members but largely with her own organic sensibility.

Set in the 90s, when society in Bihar was several degrees more regressive in gender equality than it is today, Maharani is much less a story of triumphs than it is a searing look into the systemic oppression of women. More about the film here.

On stepping into the shoes of the real Bharti Devi, Qureshi in an interview said the character in the film "starts off as someone whom we all know and relate to but what she goes onto become is someone few of us can aspire for."

Watch the trailer for Maharani here: