Raja Shivaji Movie Review: These days, the disclaimer becomes more telling than the movie itself. Raja Shivaji, directed by Riteish Deshmukh who also plays the titular character, is neither a documentary nor a history lesson, we are told; it is basically ia warning that what is about to unfold will be lore, myth and current beliefs, all rolled into one.
Despite this, Deshmukh creates a big screen experience firmly rooted in the ultra-colourful Amar Chitra Katha aesthetic. Those with long memories may be swiftly taken back to the impressive figure of the Maratha warrior astride his horse, brandishing a sword while fighting off hordes of Mughal invaders.
The film makes no attempt to sully its black-and-white universe with any moral complexities: Marathas good, Mughals, and others of their ilk — Nizamshahi and Adilshahi — terrible, and there endeth the story. The child marriage, shown between a young Shivaji and a younger Sai, is turned into a cutesy strand; the constant switching of loyalties between the Hindu rulers of the time is glossed over, and the idea of ‘swaraj’, which came much later, becomes Shivaji’s rallying cry, as it did in the 2025 ‘Chhava’.
But once you know what the film is going for, all you are interested in is whether it will hold your attention for its duration. To that end, Deshmukh spends 3.15 hours filling his canvas with the undulating landscapes of Ahmednagar, Bijapur, Pune and other Deccan areas, overrun by the several warring principalities. An unending stream of bristling battles, flayed limbs, bloody bodies ensues, to the point where you are left numb: how many arms, legs, and heads can you watch being severed or cleaved off torsos? About the only thing that breaks the array is a smartly choreographed battle scene inside a fort.
The first half, complete with a childhood backstory, stays fairly fast-paced, keeping in mind short audience attention spans. Shahjehan has dispatched Aurangzeb (Fardeen Khan) to manage the internecine Dakkhani warfare, himself staying put in faraway North: Mughal armies are rampaging through the countryside, ravaging homes and desecrating temples. Elephants fight each other, allowing for lots of CGI, not very cleverly hidden, adding to the comic-book effect.
Perfect time for our hero to rise to the occasion, and set about consolidating the scattered Maratha rulers, under the ‘bhagwa dhwaj’, with the rousing cry of Har Har Mahadev. Deshmukh plays the role with sincerity, carrying the weight of a figure deeply revered throughout Maharashtra, all the while depending upon his ensemble to carry the story forward in the infrequent sequences when he’s not striding across the screen. Or putting his ‘wagh nakh’ to good use, which is the only time the too-stretched, repetitive second half, springs to life.
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As to that, let me put the record straight: the reveal of the storied Shivaji weapon during the climactic tussle between him and the treacherous Afzal Khan (Sanjay Dutt) is perfectly timed, and the controversy — did he or did not show his hand before he had to — is needless. It has to be said that some of the most enjoyable bits of the film belong to Dutt in full Khalnayak mode, who chews the scenery, ratcheting his smirking villainy with every scene. Amole Gupte, playing an indolent Mughal ruler, more in love with his pigeons than his scheming, heavily-kohl-eyed begum (Vidya Balan, terrific) is quite a lot of fun, too.
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Abhishek Bachchan leaves a mark as Sambhaji Raje, Shivaji’s older brother, as does Sachin Khedekar as Shahaji Bhonsle, the boys’ father, who is shown initially as someone who accepts Mughal rule, but then breaks free. Bhagyashree as the boys’ mother adds to the softer portions of the film, showing a steeliness only when she commands her son to get her the ‘head’ of her elder son’s killer. And the entire movie is nearly stolen by Salman Khan in a tiny cameo: quite appropriately, Bhai becomes Bhau in the credits.
Raja Shivaji movie cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Salman Khan, Amol Gupte, Vidya Balan, Genelia Deshmukh, Bhagyashree, Sachin Khedekar, Fardeen Khan, Jeetendra Joshi
Raja Shivaji movie director: Riteish Deshmukh
Raja Shivaji movie rating: 2.5 stars
