Mumbai, Jan 2 (IANS): Actor Junaid Khan, the son of Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who made his debut with the streaming film ‘Maharaj’, is set to perform a theatre play on Friday coinciding with the song release from his upcoming movie ‘Loveyapa’.

After the announcement of the release date of ‘Loveyapa’, Junaid is performing for the first time at Prithvi Theatre. ‘Loveyapa’ also stars Khushi Kapoor.

This marks Junaid’s second film after ‘Maharaj’ which was based on journalist and social reformer Karsandas Mulji, who himself was a Hindu.

Having studied at the Elphinstone College in Mumbai, Karsandas Mulji, played by Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan’s son - Junaid in the film, was a protege of the scholar-leader Dadabhai Naoroji. He was a member of the Gujarati Gnanprasarak Mandalli (Gujarati Society for the Spread of Knowledge), and was a friend of prominent Gujarati reformists such as poet Narmad and educationist Mahipatram Neelkanth.

He founded the Gujarati language weekly, ‘Satyaprakash’ in 1855 in order to leverage mass communication for social reform. Six years later, the newspaper was merged with his guru’s Anglo-Gujarati newspaper Rast Goftar published from then Bombay, which at that point included parts of Gujarat as Bombay presidency.

Mulji wrote on widow remarriage, female education, excessive spending in pompous marriages, indecent songs sung during marriages, the funeral ritual of chest beating, and he stood up for the oppressed, calling for a social reform. Many of the evil practices in the society got abolished because of Mulji, who like his mentor believed in effective functioning of the society by weeding out its evils.

He wrote many notable articles. The one that made huge noise at the time was the one titled ‘Gulamikhat’. In the article, he criticised the sign campaign and the process of law-making by Vaishnavas which allowed the Maharaj (religious heads) to not have to visit the court owing to their religious status.

However, it was the article titled ‘Hinduo No Asli Dharam Ane Atyar Na Pakhandi Mato’ (The Primitive Religion of the Hindus and the Present Heterodox Opinions) published by him on September 21, 1890 in ‘Satyaprakash’. The article criticised Vaishnava Archaryas (Hindu religious leaders) for their behaviour. The article resulted in the Maharaj Libel Case in 1862 on which the Netflix film is based.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Junaid Khan also has an upcoming film with Sai Pallavi.