Chhaava Movie Star Cast/ Actors: Vicky Kaushal as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, Rashmika Mandanna as Maharani Yesubai, Akshaye Khanna as Aurangzeb, Ashutosh Rana as Sarsenapati Hambirao Mohite, Divya Dutta as Soyarabai, Vineet Kumar Singh as Kavi Kalash, Diana Penty as Aurangzeb’s daughter, Santosh Juvekar as Rayaji Malge, Neil Bhoopalam as Muhammad Akbar, Pradeep Rawat as Yesaji Rao Kank, Alok Nath as Somaji & more
Chhaava Movie Director: Laxman Utekar
Chhaava Movie Release Date: February 14, 2025
Chhaava Movie Available On: Theatrical Release and (likely to be released on OTT Plateform Netflix)
Chhaava Movie Released/ Available In Languages: Hindi
Chhaava Movie Runtime: 161 Minutes
Chhaava Movie Critic Review:
Ajay Devgn’s voice introduces the pride of the Marathas, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and the Deccan where he held sway. Also meet Aurangzeb and the Moghuls. They are parallels in Indian history.
The biggest compliment a veer can receive is when he dies and a sworn enemy asks God to keep open the doors to “jannat” for a “sher” is on his way. When Shivaji’s death is announced, amidst a chorus of sycophantic utterings by courtiers, Aurangzeb (Akshaye Khanna), with sunken cheeks and poring over crochet work, wonders aloud, “Shiva jaisa dushman ab milega kahan?” Aurang then goes on to do what he does best – celebrate the death of his enemy.
Writer-director Laxman Utekar’s cinematography origins show up in the “amazeballs” visuals. The earth trembles, hooves thunder in close-ups. The Maratha chest swells with pride as Chhatrapati Shivaji’s son Shambhu Raje (Vicky Kaushal) arrives, tanned and majestic astride his horse, sword flying, his roar surround sound.
In a well-choreographed and well-shot entry, the fighting skills of the Marathas, literally flying in the air to cut down a Moghul, swiftly scaling walls with one climbing over the other, Sambhaji tearing into the enemy, showing a moment of humanity by rescuing a wailing Moghul child before turning back to slay many more, breathlessly showcase Shivaji’s valiant legacy. Fighting a lion with knife, bare hands and fearlessness, and devastating Aurangzeb’s Burhanpur.
Aurangzeb has a flashback to when he first met Sambhaji, a kid who knew no fear.
Words can’t do what action does as Sambhaji Maharaj takes his bow: “Shor nahi karte, seedha shikaar karte”, and a blazing title announces Chhava (a sher’s cub in this context).
Based on Shivaji Sawant’s Chhava, the screenplay by Laxman Utekar, Rishi Virmani, Kaustubh Savarkar, Unman Bankar and Omkar Mahajan has dramatic dialogues by Rishi Virmani and Irshad Kamil. Sample: “Maut ka farmaan aur bin bulaye mehmaan, kabhi bhi aa sakta hai.”
Treachery is never far away when power comes into play.
Stepmother Soyarabai (Divya Dutta) and Annaji (Kiran Karmakar) on the Maratha side, Aurangzeb’s own son Akbar (Neil Bhoopalam) on the other, provide the palace intrigue as Sambhaji has elephants trampling traitors to death and Aurangzeb personally slays losers.
The battle lines are clear.
Aurangzeb will cleanse the Deccan and erase the Marathas. In fact, until he’s drawn Sambhaji’s blood, he won’t even wear the Alamgir’s crown which he’d wrested, tainted with the blood of his own family.
Sambhaji has staunch loyalists. Sarsenapati Hambirao (Ashutosh Rana), Kavi Kalash (Vineet Kumar Singh) and wife Yesubai (Rashmika Mandanna).
Aurangzeb has daughter Zeenat (Diana Penty), as cruel as her father.
“They have an army of only 25,000. We have more than that only in our kitchen,” sneers Zeenat as she plots the downfall of Sambhaji.
The Marathas retaliate by saying each of us will make up for their 25,000. Using clever camouflage, the Marathas descend from trees like a vanar sena, emerge out of women’s attire in a downpour, erupt out of the earth and rise from the waters to stun the Moghuls.
The good and the bad is that while Saurabh Goswami’s camerawork captures the variety of strategies with a ferocity that does justice to Maratha valour, AR Rahman’s background score does not have the required flavour. This is not Jodha Akbar as Rahman amps the volume but produces neither a new sound, so essential when there’s such a thali of fights, nor does it echo the sound of Maharashtra.
Once Sambhaji is captured by Aurangzeb, the relentless torture (a body chained and whipped mercilessly, salt on his wounds, nails pulled out, eyes pierced and blinded, tongue cut off) to revel in the pleasure of his screams, is gut wrenching. Sambhaji’s stoic roar through it all denies Aurangzeb and Zeenat that pleasure.
Utekar prolongs it with scenes like dialogues between blood-soaked Kavi Kalash and Sambhaji, Yesubai too having her own dialogues with him while writhing in her palace at the pain inflicted on him. But with verbal encounters like Aurangzeb telling the tortured Sambhaji, “It’s not too late. Come to the Moghul side. You just have to convert to my religion,” and Sambhaji retaliating with, “You come to our side. You don’t even have to change your religion,” the adrenaline surge in the audience will be high. Wikipedia and historians may tell another story on Sambhaji but this one’s for Swaraj and Jai Bhavani all the way.
Sambhaji wistfully recalling his father’s advice which made him who he is, telling Hambirao Mama that he misses having someone who can still call him “Shambhu”, flashes of Shivaji’s turban and throne, touch all the right chords in a cinematically calibrated way.
Vicky Kaushal is outstanding as Sambhaji, combining valour, ferocity and tenderness in equal measure. Akshaye Khanna is unrecognisable as he slips completely into the skin of Aurangzeb with some obvious help from prosthetics. Rashmika Mandanna is the saucy, sweet and besotted sakhi who doesn’t have much to do. Vineet Singh Kumar, Neil Bhoopalam and Ashutosh Rana make solid pillars while Divya Dutta is delightfully menacing as the scheming Soyarabai.
Chhaava Movie – Watch Or Not?: Lengthy but a spectacular big screen experience.
Chhaava Movie Review Score Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (i.e. 3.5/5)
Chhaava Movie Official Trailer:
Chhaava Official Trailer (Credits: Maddock Films)
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