The wave created by Chhaava in Indian theatres has truly been amazing to witness and Hindi cinema was eagerly waiting for this kind of success. Apart from the stellar performances and perfect direction by Laxman Utekar, the writing in Chhaava is also impeccable and deserves all the praise. In an exclusive interview with News24, Chhaava’s writer Rishi Virmani talks about the film’s grand success, criticism over casting, and more.
Even though Chhaava received praise for the incredible performances by all the actors, Rashmika Mandanna had to face criticism for her casting. Talking about the casting of Chhaava, Rishi Virami tells us, “If you look at them, they really stood the part. They were our first choices for the only reason that they really suited the part. Vicky Kaushal looks so good in this role. He’s so convincing that you don’t even see Vicky Kaushal at all and just see Chhatrapati Samajeevan all throughout. He is so good with his performance.”
Defending trolling against Rashmika’s diction in Chhaava and the decision to cast her, he further adds, “And if you notice Rashmika, she’s got this beautiful combination of a compassionate woman, a wife and a mother. Yet at the same time, she had dynamism and can hold the fort on behalf of the king when he is away at war. She takes strong decisions. She has that purity and power in her eyes. We could not think of anybody else for this part because that is what made the character the way it was. And as far as diction and all these things are concerned, we were not really thinking about those things. I mean, Vicky Kaushal or Akshaye Khanna are not Maharashtrian. So why are we talking about Rashmika being a South Indian? We are in one country.”
Further praising the performances, he adds, “If you look at Vicky and Rashmika, you really feel for their fight. And when you look at the way Akshay Khanna has performed his part, you really feel his pain of not being able to be more powerful than he is. We really wanted them (actors) to understand also what we need from them. And that’s exactly how it came out.”
Chhaava is based on the book of the same name and focuses on the life of Sambhaji Maharaj, the second ruler of the Maratha Empire. Vicky Kaushal played the titular role, whereas, Rashmika was seen as Yesubai Bhonsale. Akshaye Khanna played the role of Aurangzeb, who was the sixth Mughal emperor.
Directed by Laxman Utekar, the movie also stars Diana Penty, Neil Bhoolpalam, Ashutosh Rana, Divya Dutta, Vineet Kumar Singh.
