Join WhatsApp Channel
Actor and filmmaker Riteish Deshmukh, hosting a recent episode of Bigg Boss Marathi Season 6, had stated that Salman Khan will be a surprise part of his dream project of ten years, Raja Shivaji, which his production concern, Mumbai Film Company, is producing along with Jio Studios.
The grand trailer launch on April 20 saw almost the complete principal cast in attendance along with composers Ajay-Atul. But Khan was not even mentioned. Salman, a family friend, has played cameos in Deshmukh’s earlier Marathi films, Lai Bhaari and Ved as well. Well, surprises must remain surprises.
Raja Shivaji, which is based on the life of Emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, is a Marathi-Hindi bilingual extravaganza, set for release on May 1, which is also Maharashtra Day. Abhishek Bachchan plays Sambhaji Shahaji Maharaj (elder brother to Shivaji) while Sachin Khedekar plays Shivaji’s father, Shahaji Raje Bhosale. Bhagyashree is Jijabai, Shivaji’s mother.
Sanjay Dutt as Afzal Khan, Vidya Balan as Badi Begum, Fardeen Khan as Shah Jahan, Jitendra Joshi as Pant and Amole Gupte as Adilshah are also in the cast. Khan and Khedekar were absent.
Ajay-Atul tune lyrics by Manoj Muntashir, and as per what this duo tell me, are also penning some songs. All the Marathi songs have been penned by the duo themselves.
The show was stolen by Ajay, who was in tears while narrating what Shivaji and the film meant to both the composer brothers. In a long and emotional speech, he was frequently at a loss for words as he was emotionally overwhelmed. “Everyone knows what Shivaji Maharaj means to all of us,” was the essence of his speech.
Genelia confessed that she was emotional and termed each member of the team her strength. “I don’t think the film can happen without any of my teams. Thank you all for helping us in making this film as you all came in with all the positivity!” she said, her voice breaking frequently. To hide her tears, she repeatedly turned her face away from the stage, especially when asked how husband Riteish and she collaborated as wife and then as producer with him as writer-director and hero. “It was only possible because of what he is as a person!” she said.
Riteish, with his voice breaking and frequent pauses of emotions, said, “Respect, worship and love: whenever a small boy takes on the role of Shivaji in a play in a school or in a neighborhood show, I feel that it is his soubhagya (good fortune) and so, it is mine today. From 10 years I was trying to make this film. It was as if Shivaji Maharaj was telling me, ‘Wait! Child, your time has not yet come!’ And it was as if he finally told me my time has come when we began working in 2023.”
He said “For this to happen, it is not enough to dream, you need the right associates—of people who have a lion’s courage just like Shivaji Maharaj had. Everyone stood solidly behind me—Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Ajay-Atul, Boman Irani, Mahesh-sir, Vidya ma’am, Bhagyashree ma’am, Amole-sir…I am not worthy of making a film on the stature of Emperor Shivaji, I think no one is.”
He added feelingly, “Each and every one was invaluable, including the entire behind-the-scenes team. But the one person without whom this dream would not have been realized is Genelia. It is easy to dream, but the will to achieve it, the confidence to stand behind me with complete confidence, that was all her!”
The show was stolen by Vidya Balan and Boman Irani, with Vidya Balan opening declaring that she wondered why she was not considered for any role in this film (when it was announced) as she was born and brought up in Mumbai. When Riteish came to meet her, she had already decided to do any role in the film, but when he narrated the story and her part in it, she pretended that she would think about it. But when he left, within minutes, she called him up and said that she was doing the film!
Irani joked, “I didn’t even say I was doing this film—because I wasn’t even asked! I was just told, ‘What are you doing on the 30th? Come to the address I am sending you.’”
He went on to describe his first day on set, revealing Riteish’s rather unusual instruction—no makeup. “He said if I wore makeup, I’d look too young! He wanted me to look like an actual old man for my role as a baba,” Irani revealed. “He suggested that I look naturally prehistoric!”
He concluded, “I love him like my own son… though he speaks to me as if I’m his!” and added his deep admiration for the visual spectacle he had just watched—the trailer. “I made a small film last year (The Mehta Boys) with so much difficulty, and then I see this incredible level of a movie. I feel so proud of you,” he said.
Amole Gupte recalled being asked to train Riteish-Genelia’s two sons, Riaan and Rahyl for the film in which they play key roles. “When Riteish next offered me such a great role as well, I was overcome with gratitude! My friendship with his two boys has a strong base of samosa and jalebi, and I hope that it continues as long as I live!”
Abhishek Bachchan teased Genelia for being after her husband to eat even as he was preoccupied with work. “You would go after him with a plate of roti and sabzi, but we would all go hungry!” he mock-complained.
For the uninitiated, Ved, directed by Riteish Deshmukh, remains the first and only Marathi film so far to cross the 100-crore mark in collections. And Raja Shivaji is set to smash that record.
