Review: ‘Raja Shivaji’ is a studious, plodding affair

Riteish Deshmukh’s second movie as director traces the evolution of Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsle into Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Raja Shivaji is a title that will keep chauvinists busy. Indeed, only a day before the film was released in cinemas, the Bombay High Court dismissed a petition claiming that the title was “derogatory”.

The nature of nobility is the main theme in Deshmukh’s by-the-numbers historical, in which he also plays the lead role. In the mid-seventeenth century, parts of the future state of Maharashtra are under the Deccan Sultanate. It’s a time of legitimised anarchy courtesy various green flags. Betrayal, looting and wanton killings are rampant.

Whether it’s the Deccan rulers, the Nizams or the Mughals in the north, their “ilk” is not to be trusted, Shivaji’s ancestor says bitterly. The Muslim rulers and their soldiers even kill children without a second thought, the film shows.

Shivaji’s father Shahaji Bhonsle (Sachin Khedekar) and mother Jijabai (Bhagyashree Patwardhan) are forced to follow the diktats of the buffoonish, dove-obsessed Adil Shah (Amole Gupte) and his canny wife Khadija (Vidya Balan). The Bhonsles bide their time – Jijabai less patiently – until their sons Sambhaji and Shivaji come of age.

As adults, Shivaji (Deshmukh) and Sambhaji (Abhishek Bachhan) rebel against the Deccan sultans and the...

Read more