The Hindi film industry has pulled out another leaf from the history books, bringing back the life and story of Maratha king Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj through Laxman Utekar’s film ‘Chhaava'.

Starring Vicky Kaushal in the titular role, ‘Chhaava’ is based on a book by author Shivaji Sawant. The almost three-hour movie pays tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s eldest son and one of the greatest warriors and abled rulers.

The film begins in 1680, right after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s death, with Sambhaji Maharaj, fondly known as Shambhu Raje, succeeding the throne. Barely a few minutes into the film, the director wasted no time and showed the sacking of Burhanpur by Shambhu Raje and his Maratha army, which made Aurangzeb move his expedition to the Deccan and eventually led to the capture and torturous execution of Sambhaji Maharaj.

‘Chhaava’ is a masterpiece on two fronts: Kaushal’s portrayal of the brave Maratha king and Utekar’s honest efforts to bring back a story of valour that is unfortunately forgotten by many.Speaking of Kaushla, before ‘Chhava,’ he delivered his best performances in ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’ and ‘Sam Bahadur.’ However, with ‘Chhaava,’ the actor has surpassed himself, making it his career-best performance to date.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that no other actor could have justly played Shambhu Raje’s role the way Kaushal did. He showed many aspects of Maharaj, including his bravery, fierceness, fearlessness, and empathy, but mostly how he never bowed down in front of the Mughal Emperor. Kaushal’s craft isn’t seen only in how he expressed his emotions or delivered the dialogues, but also in how he trained himself in sword fighting and horse riding.

Another jewel in the acting crown is Akshaye Khanna as Aurangzeb. He has perfectly grasped the aura of Aurangzeb, appearing to be the brutal emperor that he was. Adding more to Khanna’s performance, which had limited dialogue yet was a powerful act, is the make-up team’s job.Coming back to Utekar, the filmmaker is only six films old as a director (including ‘Chhaava’), but his direction and vision behind ‘Chhaava’ speak volumes about his work.

Utekar, who was previously a cinematographer before he turned to direction, has utilised his cinematography skills to the best. ‘Chhaava’ is a visual spectacle that takes you right in the middle of the battlefield. Such an execution of the visuals was possible only with Utekar’s clear vision and cinematographer Saurabh Goswami’s skilled camera work.Although it is almost impossible to narrate all major incidents of a person of Sambhaji Maharaj’s stature, Utekar has done a good job highlighting three big events - the sacking of Burhanpur, how Sambhaji Maharaj opened wide the mouth of a lion, when Soyrabai sought Aurangzeb’s son’s help to kill Sambhaji Maharaj, the Battle of Wai, Maharaj’s capture at Sangameshwar, and the tremendous torture by Aurangzeb.

Among these events, Utekar especially highlighted the sacking of Burhanpur, the capture in Sangameshwar, and Maharaj’s torturous death.While Utekar did a fantastic job at not deviating from showing too many episodes from history, he did falter a little with the screenplay.

The first half of ‘Chhaava’ moves a little too slowly and picks up only after the interval.Another area where the film has lagged behind the most is with its background score and music. Utekar got music maestro AR Rahman on board for ‘Chhaava,’ but the latter’s finesse is missing. Music is possibly the weakest link of ‘Chhaava.’

As far as the casting is concerned, Utekar has roped in a good support cast with Divya Dutta playing Rajmata Soyarabai, Rashmika Mandanna as Maharani Yeshubai, and Ashutosh Rana as Sir Senapati Hambirao Mohite. Vineet Kumar Singh as Ravi Kalash and Diana Penty as Aurangzeb’s daughter Zinat-un-Nissa Begum.

Mandanna, Rana, and Singh were very good in their roles. Unlike her Hindi debut ‘Goodbye,’ Mandanna’s Hindi pronunciation in ‘Chhaava’ is way clearer; however, there are moments of the accented Hindi that won’t go amiss. His chemistry with Kaushal, especially the emotionally driven (and dramatised) scenes towards the end, has helped drastically to showcase the bond that the strong husband-wife shared.

Of course, there was creative liberty taken here, but it only helped to uplift the film.Credit also goes to the action directors, Parvez Shaikh and Todor Lazarov, for the battle scenes. The action sequences are clean and sleek.

Similarly, the CGI work is also at par, even in scenes that involve a lion and an elephant.Although ‘Chhaava’ is high on action and has some heart-wrenching scenes that aren’t for the faint-hearted (Utekar tried his best to show the torture subtly, yet it leaves a massive impact).

Despite that, it is a movie that must be watched by one and all, for it tells a story that should be known to everyone. In all, it is a true and honest tribute to a brave heart who didn’t succumb to brutality by Aurangzeb till his last breath and sacrificed his life for ‘Swarajya’ and his people.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5