Vicky Kaushal is back on the big screen after 'Bad Newz'(2024), and this time with in a completely new avatar. Directed by 'Mimi' (2021) fame Laxman Utekar and produced by Maddock Films, 'Chhaava' tells us the story of Chhatrapati Sambhaji, the eldest son of Chhatrapati Shivaji. The film stars Vicky Kaushal, Rashmika Mandanna and Akshaye Khanna in lead roles, with Ashutosh Rana, Diana Penty, Divya Dutta and Vineet Kumar Singh in supporting roles.
Basic Plot- Sambhaji puts the Maratha empire back on track after Shivaji's death and faces off with Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.
Positives
Vicky Kaushal and Akshaye Khanna
This has to be one of the landmark performances that Vicky has delivered in his ten year long career. He seamlessly manages to almost embody Chhatrapati Sambhaji, along with the aggression, valour and pride that he possessed. Vicky has been a real show stealer and you cannot let your eyes go off him in this 160 minutes long film. You really witness his range as an actor in the last 60 minutes of the film where he delivers an amazing crescendo like performance. That's hell of a progressively brilliant performance that feels like a storm, getting stronger with every scene. They way he You really cannot differentiate reel and real Sambhaji in the last 40 minutes of the film and it's just Vicky's sheer acting caliber that makes audience deeply emotional in the climax.
Akshaye Khanna on the other hand shines as an old Aurangzeb. He gets significantly less screen time than Vicky Kaushal (probably due to the fact that although being the prime enemy of Sambaji, Aurangzeb was more contemporary to Shivaji), not so many punchline dialogues either, but manages to leave serious impact, courtesy a strong performance. You really get that feel of a wicked person doing diabolical stuff while witnessing Khanna on screen, and that makes up for an intense and historically correct battle between the good and the evil. His performance peaks in the last one hour of the film, holy smokes, he's so demonic and heartless at what he does!
Direction and the Last one hour
Director Laxman Utekar puts up an overall good direction which picks up pace mostly in the first half. Handful of things could've been better cooked for sure, but what I liked is the director's approach to remain as true to history as possible. His presentation of Aurangzeb, while overall crowd pleasing, (and accurate of course) is too true to history to raise some right wing eyebrows, but I like how the makers have gone for it and did not settle with Khanna playing a cardboard-esque, one dimensional Aurangzeb. Laxman Utekar has smartly dynamized Aurangzeb's character by blending his honor for Shivaji and Sambhaji (a historical reality) with him being completely evil otherwise. This creates a win-win situation for the director without historical and political (if you know what I mean) perspectives clashing with each other. Sambhaji's death is also well executed with only historically known torture methods being shown and nothing, after he succumbed to his wounds (ignoring all the stories regarding decapitation and dismember). Costume design and other similar aspects have been accurate but had the emotions been fleshed out properly, things would've been perfect.
The last hour is the highlight of this film where the Battle of Wai (1687) and it's aftermath is shown. Every department of filmmaking shines during this time, making for an unforgettable cinematic experience. The dialogues and punchlines have been so damn on point with performances reaching to next levels, rompting several 'seeti-maar' mioments. Vicky Kaushal has probably not realised the level of performance that he's put up during this time. Sheesh, it's on a different league altogether! Akshaye Khanna soars high as well especially in the scene where he stabs one of his ministers multiple times. Damn he's so evil! There's kind of a monologue like poetry scene towards the end of the film between Sambhaji and Kavi Kalash that's is pure emotional material. The drama soars high, very high, so high that it becomes almost difficult to engulf that all at once. The ending shakes one from deep within, not only due to the extremely well executed torture scenes, but also due to the incredible God like resistance shown by Sambhaji to the torture.
Underwhelming Aspects
First Half
The first half of the film is pure contrast to the second half and while it isn't unbearable like the first half of Kalki 2898 AD, one will definitely get out of the theatres realizing how the first half doesn't justify the showcasing of the events of the second half at all. The first half of Chhaava is not able to create any serious impact or even purpose in some instances. The screenplay lacks depth and isn't the most cohesive one either, which creates a bumpy and inconsistent ride. Criticism is also justified on the decision of casting Rashmika for the role of Sambhaji's wife Yesubai. She got a small screen place overall but couldn't turn the tide in her favor unlike Akshaye Khanna. Her mannerism, complexion and accent is far from Marathi and she really seemed to have a hard time in coping up with the overall vibe of the film. Even Ashutosh Rana seemed under-utilized. Several aspects like; Vicky's entry scene (The attack on Burhanpur in 1681), the drama (Sambhaji's ministers conspiracy against him, and their eventual execution by Sambhaji upon knowing the conspiracy), the action and the music by A R Rahman (very surprisingly) have been just so average and ineffective! Seems like Sambhaji gets away with everything easily. A few dream sequences were designed to show his vulnerable side, but nothing really worked on that part. My main complain is about how weirdly the drama portion in the first half was executed, in spite of enough historical scope being available for the drama to become all time captivating and thrilling. A criminally missed opportunity I must say! The action scenes are neither well designed, nor well executed. To make matters worse, the cameral work (during the action scenes) by Saurabh Goswami seems boring and dated to say the least, which makes the action scenes in the first half very chaotic and unpolished. Even, the important events like The Mughal invasion of Konkan in 1684 (and even a brief portion of the Battle of Wai) seem to be half baked action scenes that lack cohesiveness. The guerilla warfare tactics involved in the battles are established in an unprocessed manner and thus, do not give you the thrill of watching a well thought out and strategized war activities (like in the Baahubali franchise).
Conclusion
While the film is far from perfect, it redeems most of it's imperfections with an 'out of the world' last hour. The film has enough to cheer about for majority of the viewers, but somehow falls short of a visionary style of filmmaking which combines rich history with cinematic brilliance (Bhansali style of filmmaking in particular). Seems like the director was too invested to showcase only the valour, pride and bravery of the beastly Maratha ruler and hence, historical and cinematic aspects like detailed accounts of wars and high-pitched drama/thrill went for a complete toss. Left behind was non-coherent action scenes in the name of battles and bland scenes for the sake of drama. Nevertheless, the director probably wanted to just celebrate the Maratha ruler (for all the right reasons) in a film, where Sambhaji would be the epicenter of events and not the events themselves. What I really respect is the fact that Laxman Utekar tells a story. He doesn't try to create a forceful opinion on religions as a part of hateful political tactics, and this is where Chhaava wins it for me. The rest is a 'performance steals the show' affair that deserves a watch for sure to witness Marathiyon apne jaan ki chinta nahi karte!
Watch Out For
Performances and the Last hour
WTF Recommendation
7.5/10