Chhava

Pre-production began in April 2023; filming commenced in October 2023 and ended in May 2024. The film score and soundtrack album were composed by A. R. Rahman while the lyrics were written by Irshad Kamil and Kshitij Patwardhan.

Chaava was released in theatres on 14 February 2025 in standard and IMAX formats. The film received mixed reviews from critics, and drew controversy for its historical inaccuracies.Commercially, it has earned ₹781.87 crore (US$89 million) to rank the highest-grossing Indian film of 2025, and the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2025.It also ranks as the eighth highest-grossing Hindi films of all time and the thirteenth highest-grossing Indian film of all time.Everyone knows about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, but no one knows about Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. He had such great courage and was a great warrior, but sadly no one knows about it. During the pandemic when I read about Sambhaji Maharaj, I realised he is such a big character, and why are we not talking about his life? That’s when I started writing and the idea of Chhaava came to me.

— Laxman Utekar, during an interview with India Today

In 2021, Laxman Utekar told Dinesh Vijan that he wanted to make a film with Vicky Kaushal and Rashmika Mandanna. In December 2022, it was reported that Utekar was working on a historical biopic,based on the Marathi novel Chhava by Shivaji Sawant.After completing script in January 2023, pre-production for the film began in April, and principal photography starting in October.

Utekar and his team spent a year researching the 17th-century Maratha era, travelling to historical towns like Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Ratnagiri, Pune, Nashik, and Paithan.Sheetal Sharma served as costume designer, sourcing authentic Paithani sarees and restored 500-year-old borders for Rashmika Mandanna‘s character, Yesubai. To ensure authenticity, he visited Paithan and Narayanpeth to acquire Paithani and Narayanpeth sarees. Additional accessories were gathered from Kolhapur, Sawantwadi, and Ratnagiri. Sharma also mentioned that Vicky Kaushal’s outfit in the first action sequence of the film weighed approximately 17–18 kg Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray recreated jewellery and the sword Bhavani, drawing references from museums in London. Vicky Kaushal‘s portrayal of Sambhaji was based on historical busts and statues to ensure accuracy.A. R. Rahman was roped in to compose the score.

The film was officially announced on 3 October 2023, when Maddock Films revealed its upcoming slate of theatrical releases, including the release date for Chhaava.

Casting and filming

Laxman Utekar discussed his upcoming film with Vicky Kaushal during the shoot of Zara Hatke Zara Bachke (2023).In January 2023, Utekar confirmed that Kaushal would portray Sambhaji, marking their second collaboration following Zara Hatke Zara Bachke.Kaushal would be reportedly receiving a ₹10 crore (US$1.1 million) remuneration.Utekar mentioned that Kaushal would undergo four months of training in sword fighting, horse riding, and that shooting would begin once they were satisfied with his preparation.Vaibhav Vishant served as casting director.In August 2023, it was reported that Marathi actor Santosh Juvekar would play a pivotal role in the film.He was originally cast as Ganoji Shirke, but later, director Laxman Utekar met with him in his office and offered him the role of Rayaji Malge instead.During the same month, Juvekar and Kaushal underwent horse riding training in the Mumbai suburbs.During trailer launch, Kaushal revealed that he was trained in sword, stick, and spear fighting for 6–7 months. He also gained 25 kg weight for the role.During shooting in Raigad a set was constructed for the scene depicting Chhatrapati Sambhaji’s ascension to the throne, featuring an eight-sided throne.

By October 2023, it was reported that Kaushal had started his preparations for the film alongside co-star Rashmika Mandanna.Mandanna would be reportedly receiving ₹4 crore (US$460,000) remuneration.The same month, Ashutosh Rana and Divya Dutta join cast as Hambirrao Mohite and Soyarabai, respectively. Rana would be reportedly receiving ₹80 lakh (US$92,000) remuneration.Dutta later discusse her portrayal in an interview with Mid-Day in December 2024. On 4 December 2023, Pradeep Rawat joined the film’s cast. Mandanna wrapped up her portion of filming in January 2024, while Kaushal resumed filming in Wai on 9 March 2024, continuing until 6 April 2024.On 23 April 2024, Santosh Juvekar completed his portions.

Earlier in the production process, the team had approached Anil Kapoor for the role of Aurangzeb,but in October 2023, Akshaye Khanna joined the cast in the role instead.He would be reportedly receiving ₹2 crore (US$230,000) for his remuneration.^[29] Diana Penty joined the film in the role of Zinat-un-Nissa Begum. Principal photography for the film wrapped in May 2024. Initially, Utekar had approached Marathi actor Ashok Shinde for a negative role, but Shinde declined the offer due to a scheduling conflict with his existing contract with Zee, as he revealed in a November 2024 interview with ItsMajja.

Post-production

After filming concluded in May 2024, the movie entered post-production.The visual effects were handled by Assemblage Entertainment and ReDefine. Gary Brown and Simon Frame from Assemblage and Somesh Samit Ghosh from ReDefine served as the VFX supervisors for the film.On 11 February 2025, Pinkvilla reported that Ajay Devgn was hired to provide a voiceover for the film, completing his dubbing in the final week.

On 1 February 2025, the film was granted a U/A 16+ certification by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), with a runtime of 161 minutes and 50 seconds. The CBFC required certain modifications, including the replacement of dialogues in the first half and the removal of a scene featuring Maratha warriors in sarees. Additionally, the CBFC requested the inclusion of an audio-text disclaimer, mentioning the book the film is adapted from and clarifying that it does not aim to defame anyone or distort historical facts.Following backlash from certain Maharashtrian political figures for featuring a scene in the trailer in which Chatrapati Sambhaji and his wife perform lezim dance, Utekar decided to delete the sequence from the film.