Why Chhaava Has Become Controversial

Loud
music,
bombastic
action
scenes,
over-the-top
dialogues
that
don’t
have
any
ring
of
truth
to
it
followed
by
scenes
of
blood-oozing
bodies
floating
in
a
river
definitely
don’t
make
for
a

magnum
opus!’
exclaims
Prasanna
D
Zore
after
watching
the

Chhaava trailer.

When
someone
makes
a
biopic
on
Maharashtra’s
most
neglected
history
icon
(a
personal
opinion)
Chhatrapati
Sambhaji
Maharaj,
or
Shambhu

Raje,
as
his
family
fondly
called
him,
and
promises
to
make
him
—
and
his
eight-year
long
reign
as
the
Chhatrapati
who
ruled
the
Maratha
Empire
his
illustrious
father
Chhatrapati
Shivaji
had
so
painstakingly
built
battling
huge
odds
—
a
household
name
in
India,
just
like
Shivaji,
it
definitely
makes
news
—
and
controversies.

Producer
Dinesh
Vijan,
actors
Vicky
Kaushal,
who
plays
Sambhaji,
Rashmika
Mandanna,
who
plays
Maharani
Yesubai,
and
Director
Laxman
Utekar
did
just
that
—
created
news
—
when
they
released
the
trailer
of

Chhaava
with
fanfare
at
the
Plaza
Cinema
—
in
the
heart
of
Dadar,
a
largely
Marathi

Manoos-dominated
neighbourhood
—
on
January
22.

And
true
to
their
vocation,
the
politicians,
have
raised
their
objections
—
while
Maharashtra
Industries
Minister
and
Shiv
Sena
leader
Uday
Samant
has
already
threatened
to
block
the
film’s
release
objecting
to
some
‘objectionable’
scenes
until
history
‘experts’
clear
them,
the
direct
descendant
of
Shivaji
and
former
BJP
Rajya
Sabha
MP


Chhatrapati
Sambhaji
too
has
called
upon
the
filmmakers
to
consult
‘historians’
and
revisit
certain
scenes,
especially
the
one
where
the
warrior
king
and
his
maharani
dance
a
Maharashtrian

lezim
dance.

The
Sambhaji
Brigade,
an
organisation
based
out
of
Pune
and
dedicated
to
espouse
the
historic
legacy
of
Chhatrapati
Sambhaji,
is
yet
to
—
interestingly
and
curiously
—
enter
the
arena.

The
Sambhaji
Brigade
is
known
for
its
often
violent
protests
against
anything
touchy
about
Sambhaji.
Seems
like
Vijan
and
company
has
lot
of
work
to
do
before
the
film’s
scheduled
release
on
February
14.

Be
that
as
it
may,
but
here’s
what
happened
during
the
release
of

Chhava‘s
trailer
on
January
22.

“It
was
important
to
get

that
Marathi
vibe,”
says
a
crew
member
from
Maddock
Films
—
Vijan’s
production
company
—
when
asked
why
the
producer
chose
Plaza
as
the
venue
to
release
the
two-minute
trailer,
abandoning
tony
multiplexes
in
Juhu
where
movie
trailers
and
film
premieres
often
enfold
with
boring
regularity.

Doesn’t
mind
that
the
film
has
been
made
in
Hindi
and
the
producer
shared
no
hints
about
the
film
getting
dubbed
in
various
regional
languages,
not
to
forget
the
Marathi

manoos‘

maay-boli
Marathi
—
so
much
for
Vicky’s
and
Vijan’s
tall
claim
of
making
Sambhaji
a
household
name
in
India
with

Chhaava‘s
release.

As
part
of
the
trailer’s
over-hyped
promotion,
the
cast
and
crew
of

Chhaava,
a
biopic
that
skims
through
—
not
deep
dives,
of
course
—
the
127
small
and
big
battles
Sambhaji
fought
during
his
rule
as
the
Chhatrapati
between
1681
and
1689,
and
won
against
Mughal
emperor
Aurangzeb
and
a
number
of
smaller
principalities
in
the
Deccan,
who
owed
their
allegiance
to
the
Mughal
empire,
to
bring
out
Sambhaji’s
unwavering,
unyielding
bravery
in
the
face
of
certain
death
and
brutal
torture
—
took
a
detour
first
to
the
Siddhivinayak
temple,
following
which
the
actor
accompanied
by
band
of

dhol
and
tasha
—
traditional
Marathi
percussion
musical
instruments
—
entered
Plaza
to
the
loud
cheers
of
‘Chhatrapati
Shivaji
Maharaj
Ki
Jai’
and
‘Chhatrapati
Sambhaji
Maharaj
Ki
Jai’
from
‘fans’
who
had
gathered
to
cheer
the
actors
“of
their
own
will”
(if
one
was
to
believe
Maddock’s
crew,
that
is).

Outside
Plaza,
before
the
cast
arrived,
the
‘fans’
were
frenzied.
There
were
no
cops
or
bouncers
to
manage
these
‘fans’.
No
lessons
seem
to
have
been
learned
from
the
stampede
tragedy
that
took
the
life
of
a
35-year-old
woman
on
December
4


during
the
screening
of

Pushpa
2
at
Hyderabad’s
Sandhya
theatre.

The
same
‘fans’
occupied
the
entire
balcony
and
rear
seats
in
the
stall
area
inside
the
theatre
and
continued
with
their
‘Hi
Mandanna,’
‘I
love
you
Vicky’
and
‘Chhatrapati
Shivaji
Ko
Jai’
and
‘Chhatrapati
Sambhaji
Maharaj
Ki
Jais’
to
ramp
up
the
noise
levels
amid

dhol
and

tasha.

If
these
cheerleaders
were
not
enough,
the
media
fraternity
too
played
its
bit
in
raising
the
hype
around
the
trailer
release.

One
could
hear
someone
emphatically
declare
that
“looking
at
the
trailer
it
looks
like

Chhaava
is
a

magnum
opus,”
to
which
a
floored
Kaushal
said,
“this
is
the
first
time
I
am
hearing
any
of
my
films
being
called
a

magnum
opus.”

Magnum
opus?
Loud
music,
bombastic
action
scenes,
over-the-top
dialogues
that
don’t
have
any
ring
of
truth
to
it
—
like
Akshay
Khanna
playing
a
vengeful
Aurangzeb
crying
‘laal
kar
do‘
followed
by
scenes
of
blood-oozing
bodies
floating
in
a
river,
definitely
don’t
make
for
a

magnum
opus!

Another
mediaperson,
from
the
other
extreme,
offered
his

manacha
mujra
(a
greeting
to
show
respect,
loyalty
and
obedience
to
the
kings
made
popular
at
the
Mughal
courts,
which
later
found
its
way
even
to
Shivaji’s
court
when
he
became
the
Chhatrapati)
adding
another
bit
of
false-majesty
to
the
over-hyped
proceedings.

Hype
apart,
one
wonders
about
the
‘cinematic
liberties’
Director
Utekar
and
his
team
of
writers
and
researchers
—
the
writer
spent
four
years
working
on

Chhaava‘s
script
said
Vijan,
who
emhpasised
that
with
biopics
like

Chhaava
he
would
rather
back
his
writers
and
researchers
—
could
have
taken
while
portraying
the
unidimensional
character
of
Sambhaji
—
that
of
a
brave
warrior
king,
the
second
Chhatrapati
of
the
Maratha
Empire,
who
did
not
lose
a
single
battle
after
ascending
the
throne
and
remained
unflinching
in
his
zest
to
take
on
the
mighty
Mughals
and
expand
the
wings
of
the
Empire
that
Chhatrapati
Shivaji
established.

A
dancing
Sambhaji
(Uday
Samant’s
and
Chhatrapati
Sambhaji’s
‘experts’
take
note),
a
Sambhaji
fighting
a
lion,
a
Sambhaji
using
a

gada
and
bow
and
arrows
to
attack
the
enemy
would
definitely
upset
the
purists
and
historians.

And
there
are
many
from
Maharashtra
like
author
Shivaji
Sawant
on
whose
eponymous
novel
the
film

Chhaava
is
based
and
Vishwas
Patil
(Sambhaji)
who
have
researched
tomes
of
documents
and

bakhars
(historic
documents,
especially
in
Maharashtra,
that
describe
the
lives
of
kings,
great
men
and
epochal
events
through
songs)
on
the
life
and
times
of
Sambhaji.

One
also
wonders
—
the
trailer
didn’t
offer
any
clue
—
if

Chhaava
would
also
throw
light
on
how
Sambhaji
was
betrayed
by
his
own
—
some
would
prefer
the
euphemism
‘insider’
to
describe
these
backstabbers
—
and
the
circumstances
that
led
to
his
capture
and
subsequent
brutal
torture,
including
gouging
out
of
his
eyes,
on
Aurangzeb’s
orders.

And
his
tussle
with
his
step-mother
Soyrabai
—
Shivaji’s
second
wife
and
Rajaram’s
mother
—
who
wanted
her
son
Rajaram,
all
of
10
when
Sambhaji
ascended
the
throne
on
January
16,
1681,
to
become
the
Chhatrapati
instead
of
Sambhaji.

Sambhaji’s
mother
Saibai
died
in
1659,
just
a
month
before
the
storied
Shivaji-Afzal
Khan
meeting
at
the
footsteps
of
Pratapgad
fort,
and
when
Sambhaji
born
on
May
14,
1657,
was
all
of
two.

PS:
To
Laxman
Utekar
and
Dinesh
Vijan:
What
was
the
need
to
create
so
much
hype
and
hoopla
to
endear
a
warrior
king
who
fought
127
battles,
and
won
all,
to
save
and
expand
the
Maratha
Empire?

Request
you
to
dub
the
movie
(howsoever,
unidimensional)
in
a
regional
languages,
including
Marathi,
for
a
wider
audience
to
enjoy
it,
and
make
Sambhaji
a
national
hero,
as
you
asserted
time
and
again
during
the
trailer
release.

The
scene
where
Sambhhaji
fights
the
lion
and
attempts
to
break
the
animal’s
jaw
(we
know
it
is
animated
and
no
animal
must
have
been
hurt
while
shooting

Chhaava
and
we
thank
you
for
that)
is
a
terrible
way
of
taking
‘cinematic
liberties’
to
highlight
the
Maratha
warrior’s
fighting
skills
and
bravery.