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Join UsStar Cast: Bhushan Patil, Prasanna Ketkar, Ravi Kale, Rahul Dev, Abhijeet Shwetachandra, Trupti Madhukar Toradmal, Chinmay Mandlekar, Mrunal Kulkarni and others
Director: Digpal Lanjekar
What’s Good: It’s an attempt to bring a tale of valor to the big screen, giving an idea about the greatness of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj
What’s Bad: While the attempt is good, the execution seems half-baked!
Loo Break: The movie is not too long, yet you will need a couple of loo breaks, including the one in the interval
Watch or Not?: You can afford to miss it!
Language: Marathi
Available On: Theatrical release
Runtime: 2 hours 26 minutes
User Rating:
Director Digpal Lanjekar deserves all the praise for his dedication to showing the tales of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, and the Maratha Army, one after another, on the big screen. This one is about the fearless Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and his mind games, which led to a successful loot of Burhanpur’s treasury by the Maratha army.
The film starts with Sambhaji Maharaj’s coronation ceremony at Raigad. After the death of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Aurangzeb, and other evil emperors among Mughals thought that the state of Swarajya (self-governance) led by Shivaji Maharaj would be destroyed, but little did they know that already a new force had risen to protect it, in the form Sambhaji Maharaj. After his coronation takes place, he decides to attack Aurangzeb’s one of the dearest territories, Burhanpur, and loot all the treasury. What happens next? How the plan was executed? This film answers it all!
Shivrayancha Chhava Movie Review: Script Analysis
We have seen different historical tales presented by Digpal Lanjekar. Some of them turned out to be really good, and a few of them have been below far. Unfortunately, this one falls into the second category. Yes, despite having a solid tale of the Burhanpur attack in the hands, the script has failed to give it complete justice.
The film takes its own time to settle and gives us too many characters to remember. Sadly, barring a few, all other characters are poorly written and don’t add much to the narrative. At several points, it feels that the film is going off track, and songs make the matter worse by disturbing the pace. Overall, I can say that Shivrayancha Chhava gets interesting in bits and pieces but loses the grip more often. It really feels sad because we have already seen how entertaining and engaging Pawankhind was, and this one is not even close to that.
Speaking about the cinematography, it’s decent but nothing extraordinary. A couple of shots are well-captured, though, including the one where the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj was introduced during the coronation ceremony. Coming to the VFX department, the work that has been pulled off is not good. The clash between Sambhaji Maharaj and a Tiger is a big letdown as the Tiger in that particular scene looks completely fake, and it’s easily noticeable.
Shivrayancha Chhava Movie Review: Star Performance
I had mixed feelings about Bhushan Patil. In some scenes, he looks very promising, and his screen presence fits the bill for the larger-than-life persona of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. In other scenes, he goes overboard and crosses the line by displaying cinematic heroism rather than maintaining a subtle approach for his powerful character. However, Bhushan’s voice modulation is good, and it goes well with the character.
Prasanna Ketkar, as Sarsenapati Hambirrao, does his job well and looks natural in his role. Ravi Kale is a veteran actor, and we have seen him pulling off any kind of role with ease. As Bahirji Naik, he shines and adds entertainment value whenever he’s on the screen. It’s good to see Rahul Dev after a long time. As Kakar Khan, he comes off as calm yet evil. Abhijeet Shwetachandra, as Yesaji, also leaves an impression as a powerful head of the Maratha army.
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Shivrayancha Chhava Movie Review: Direction, Music
In the past, Digpal Lanjekar has presented us a work like Pawankhind and has raised the bar high for himself. Within a tight budget, he pulled off an entertaining and inspiring tale based on the battle of Pawankhind. However, here, his attempt comes off as half-baked. I am not against the elevation scenes in historical films, but at least they need to leave a strong impact on the audience. Here, it looks very forced and unnecessary.
If compared with Lanjekar’s best work, Pawankhind, Shivrayancha Chhava lacks depth and emotions. No matter how brutal it sounds, the film feels like a yawnfest at times. Also, the flashback portions that have been used fail to evoke any excitement or generate any interest.
The music of the film isn’t that good, but if I had to select one better track from all, Sinhasani Basle Shambhu Raje (sung by Kailash Kher) is decent. Background score plays an important role in taking any historical film a step higher, but here, there’s no such impact.
Shivrayancha Chhava Movie Review: The Last Word
All said and done, Shivrayancha Chhava fails to come out as an exciting and entertaining outcome despite a solid subject in the hands. A crisp screenplay, more emotional depth, and the addition of entertaining elements could have made it a good film.
2 Stars!
Shivrayancha Chhava Trailer
Shivrayancha Chhava releases on 16th February, 2024.
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