Chhaava Movie Review 2025: Vicky Kaushal’s great acting and spectacular action

Introduction

Chhaava film 2025, which was released on February 14, is a historical drama film. The film is directed by Laxman Utekar. The tone of the film is historical drama, and the theme is warrior biography. Along with enjoyment, the film conveys the message that many such heroes and fighters were born in our country, but their hidden characteristics are unknown, and their historical stories have yet to be portrayed on screen. One of them is Maratha Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, whose biography served as the basis for this film. This is a film adaptation of Shivaji Sawant’s Marathi novel, Chhaava. The picture delivers more entertainment on screen than what was shown in the film’s trailer and meets the audience’s expectations. Vicky Kaushal, Rashmika Mandanna, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Ashutosh Rana, and Divya Dutta play the key characters in the Chhaava movie.

Chhaava Director

Laxman Utekar

What is the budget for the Chhaava Movie?

130 Crore is the Chhaava movie budget.

What is the Chhaava movie about?

A historical drama based on the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, the son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Who is the son of Chhatrapati Shivaji?

Chhatrapati Sambhaji

What is Chhaava based on?

Chhaava is a 2025 historical drama film about Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, played by Vicky Kaushal.

Who is playing Aurangzeb in chhaava?

Akshaye Khanna is playing Aurangzeb in Chhaava.

Chhaava Meaning?

In Marathi, the word Chhava refers to a lion cub.

Who wrote Chhaava?

Laxman Utekar, Rishi Virmani, Omkar Mahajan, Unman Bankar, Kaustubh Savarkar

Cast of Chhaava

Vicky Kaushal, Rashmika Mandanna, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Ashutosh Rana, Divya Dutta, Vineet Kumar Singh, Santosh Juvekar, Pradeep Rawat, and Alok Nath

Chhaava Story

This film is based on the narrative of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. When Sambhaji Maharaj attacks Burhanpur, kills all of Aurangzeb’s warriors, conquers the fort, and turns Burhanpur into a barren, Aurangzeb, and his soldiers travel to Raigad to destroy Sambhaji Maharaj’s dominion. Akbar, Aurangzeb’s son, also requests Sambhaji Maharaj for assistance in killing his father. Will he be able to contact Sambhaji Maharaj? Will Sambhaji Maharaj help Akbar murder Aurangzeb? Who will win at the end of the film? To find out the answers to all of these questions, you must watch the movie.

Acting and Character

Vicky Kaushal‘s portrayal of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj is worth watching. He breathed new energy into his part. His acting talent is exceptional. He has landed the most brilliant and powerful role of his career thus far. He has played this character to perfection. Whether it was his dialogues delivery, stunt scenes, body language, personality, or emotional scenes, I found no flaws in his performance. He will receive a great deal of plaudits for his performance in this role, as well as numerous accolades at all the 2025 award ceremonies. He fits Sambhaji’s appearance and demeanor nicely.

Rashmika Mandana‘s portrayal of Maharani Yesubai is worth watching. Her role was brief, but she delivered an excellent performance. She also looked stunning in the flick. She put everything on the line to play a Maratha, and she was largely successful. Akshaye Khanna‘s performance as Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb is also impressive. He demonstrated how to act with his eyes and expression without using language. His acting skills are also exceptional. Even though his role was brief, he performed admirably.

Ashutosh Rana delivered a superb performance as Commander Hambirao Mohite. He tried to give his all in every part he did. Vineet Kumar Singh, Santosh Juvekar, Pradeep Rawat, and Alok Nath delivered excellent supporting performances. The parts played by Diana Penty and Divya Dutta were unnecessary. It’s difficult to understand why their roles were forced upon the movie.

Direction

This film was directed by Laxman Utekar. He is also a successful cinematographer, having previously directed Tapaal (2014), Lalbaugchi Rani (2016) in Marathi, Luka Chuppi (2019), Zara Hatke Zara Bachke (2023) in Hindi, and Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (2024). If you look at his record, he appears to be the most successful in both areas. Such people are scarce in the film industry, and each of his works is superior to the last. This comes into the same group. He has created a beautiful, energetic, and strong direction. He shot the film with an entirely different approach. The picture was made on a massive scale, and he had complete control over it from start to finish. Making a film about such a difficult subject is not for everyone, but by doing so, he has shown that he can make a decent, fantastic, and unique film of any kind. The execution is pretty good. He has managed to elicit incredible performances from everyone. He deserves nothing but the highest appreciation for this.

Screenplay-Dialogues

The film’s screenplay was extremely effectively written by Laxman Uttekar, Rishi Virmani, Omkar Mahajan, Unman Bankar, and Kaustubh Savarkar. It is well-balanced. The writing is flawless, with multiple layers. The dialogue is the film’s unique selling point. Very good, slightly distinct, and dynamic dialogues have been penned, particularly by Vicky Kaushal. The Marathi accent has been employed extremely effectively.

Cinematography

Saurabh Goswami‘s cinematography is exceptional. The soaring views and distant scenes were skillfully filmed. There are numerous 360-degree scenes as well. The film was captured pretty effectively by the camera.

Editing

It would have been preferable if Manish Pradhan‘s editing was tighter and 15–20 minutes of the film could have been removed; the pace of the picture is slow at times, and the ending drags, but these flaws can be overlooked because the film was so brilliantly created.

Chhaava movie songs and background score

A R Rahman‘s background score is not that strong; it could have been a little stronger; this shortcoming is a bit bothersome in the film; the music is also okay, and there is not much scope for music either; Jaane Tu is a very melodious and composed song in the voice of Arijit Singh; Aaya Re Toofan and Zinda Rahey in the voice of A R Rahman is okay. And can only be heard once. Some Chhaava songs were also used in the background score.

Production design

Subrata Chakraborty, Amit Ray’s production design is excellent; creating a 400-year-old production design was difficult, yet the palaces were beautifully designed.

Sound Design

The sound design by Vaishali Singh and Biswadeep Chatterjee is powerful and creates a unique feeling.

Costume Design

Sheetal Iqbal Sharma‘s costume design is exquisite; it evokes the 500-year-old Maratha and Mughal eras while also perfectly matching the film’s theme.

Choreography

Vijay Ganguly‘s choreography was limited to one song.

Action

Parvez Shaikh and Todor Lazarov‘s action sequences are the essence of the film, with extremely dangerous and startling stunts.

Climax

The film’s climax is depicted brutally; some scenes are so brutality that you will be unable to see them without crying. However, after a long period, a different type of climax has been witnessed that would give you shivers.

Visual Effects

The visual effects are consistent with the film’s tone and theme.

Rating

8/10

Opinion

Can be viewed for Vicky Kaushal’s superb acting, rich emotions, and unique finale, the film compels you to consider how many crimes, barbarism, cruelty, and oppression the Mughals imposed on us throughout history.

Flaws

The movie contains an excessive number of fight scenes.

Producer: Dinesh Vijan, Director: Laxman Utekar, Sound Design: Vaishali Singh, Bishwadeep Chatterjee, Costume Design: Sheetal Iqbal Sharma, Music: A R Rahman, Lyrics: Irshad Kamil, Kshitij Patwardhan, Background Score: A R Rahman, Production Design: Subrata Chakraborty, Amit Ray, Editor: Manish Pradhan, Cinematography: Saurabh Goswami, Choreography: Vijay Ganguly, Action: Parvez Shaikh, Todor Lazarov, Visual Effects: Prime Focus Limited, Casting Director: Vaibhav Vishant, Ranveer Wadhwani, Anti Casting