Raja Shivaji REVIEW: Riteish Deshmukh’s Earnest Efforts To Tell The Courageous Story Of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Is Visible Despite Major Setbacks

Director: Riteish Deshmukh

Writers: Ajit Wadekar, Sandeep Patil, Ritesh Deshmukh | Prajakt Deshmukh (Dialogues)

Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Mahesh Manjrekar, Sachin Khedekar, Bhagyashree, Fardeen Khan, Jitendra Joshi, Amole Gupte, Genelia Deshmukh, Salman Khan

Platform: In Theatres

Runtime: 187 Minutes (3 hours, 7 minutes)

Raja Shivaji Review

Over a decade ago, reports surfaced with regards to Riteish Deshmukh wanting to make a film on the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his courageous fight to establish Swaraj in Pune and other parts of Maharashtra and neighbouring areas. Now, 11 years later, Riteish’s dream has finally become reality and here’s what we at Bollywood Bubble have to say about it.

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Spanning decades, the film begins before the birth of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as Pune is surrounded and in the midst of a political standoff between the Mughals, the Nizam Shahi dynasty and the Adil Shahi dynasty. The film not only focuses on the politics prevalent in India during the 1600s but also the family dynamics of the Bhonsale as they struggle to keep their kingdom safe from the three camps and also attempt to stay together while being uprooted from their homes multiple times.

Right from Shivaji Raje’s personal life to his rise as rebel in the Bijapur court and his attempt to establish Swaraj in the Deccan, Raja Shivaji captures several chapters of the warrior’s life before he is crowned Chhatrapati in 1674.

To know what are the major chapters incorporated in the story, how well they are narrated and whether the actors did justice to their characters, one needs to watch Raja Shivaji and here’s our honest review of it.

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What Works

Ajay-Atul’s music is the soul of this film and elevates the storytelling to a whole other level. The acting of a few actors, especially Vidya Balan, Abhishek Bachchan and Sachin Khedekar as well as Sanjay Dutt and Riteish Deshmukh.

What Doesn’t Work

Unfortunately this list is not short – but, it’s mostly technical. The film’s edit is subpar, with several jumps visible during the 3-hour runtime. Not just the editing, but the VFX too is poor and should have been much better given the many AI tools also available currently to enhance one’s work. The action direction needs improvement.

Technical Analysis

Direction

Riteish Deshmukh has done a good job behind the camera, however, there’s a lot of scope for him to improve his craft. A couple of scenes will have you questioning why Riteish didn’t ask for another take and went with something mediocre.

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Script & Screenplay

There is justice done in this department. The narrative is not overly tampered with for cinematic reasons. The writers have stuck to the truth, however, there are times when it feels too much.

VFX & Editing

One of the MAJOR drawbacks of the period actioner based on the life of the prominent Indian warrior is it’s VFX and editing. The films suffers heavily because of these two things. The open battle scenes, visuals of the Western Ghats in all its beauty are created via CGI – we know it, but edit has made us live it for the entire duration.

Talking about the runtime, 3 hours is long. Several of the slow-mo shots could have been avoided in order to make the film a more crisp project.

Music

Ajay-Atul’s music – especially when it’s a Marathi project, is on a whole other level and the same was witnessed in Raja Shivaji. The impactful BGM makes the film an immersive watch despite the shortcomings steaming from VFX, editing and action choreography.

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Cast

When the trailer of Raja released, apprehension about how Riteish Deshmukh playing Shivaji Raje were at an all-time high. Well, after watching the film, I can say he’s done better than what many imagined. He looks the part and even makes you feel the aura of the brave warrior more that once. While he physically succeeds in bringing the character to life, his diction which delivering dialogues may confuse many. After seeing movies like Chhaava and Tanhaji, we would have love Riteish to completely dominate the character, however, that’s missing.

Sanjay Dutt is back to doing what he’s best at – being the khalnayak. Baba’s physical presence makes him feel like an elephant (you will get the referncence you watch the film) and his voice adds gravitas to his character. He’s convincing – sometimes a little too much, as Afzal Khan.

If Abhishek Bachchan wasn’t Amitabh Bachchan’s son he would have shined in Bollywood has been proven true once more. He’s raw, he’s impatient and he’s lethal but still manages to display a soft side when it comes to his family, especially his brother, Shivaji. The only drawback with his performance, his Marathi dialogues sound off (and I watched the Hindi version).

Vidya Balan dominates every scene she’s in, even when surrounded by several high-ranking ministers. Her emotions are intense – something like you’ve seen on period dramas like Jodha Akhbar, and you wish she had more screen time. Despite having a meatier role than many, she still feels completely underutilized.

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Supporting Cast

Genelia D’Souza struggles with her accent. While she and Riteish do look amazing together onscreen it still feels like something was missing between Raje and Saibai. Sachin Khedekar delivers an impactful performance as Shahaji Bhosale. He beautifully brings to life the turmoil Shahaji felt everytime his family faced perils. Bhagyashree is a pleasant surprise however the fierceness one expect from Jijabai is missing. The fire is there, but it’s dim.

Amol Gupte, Fardeen Khan, Jitendra Joshi, and others – including Rahyl adn Riaan, have done decent jobs. The best for last? Salman Khan’s cameo during the climax fight steals the show.

Conclusion

There is no problem in the story being told, the film just suffers on several accounts because of technology such as VFX, editing and action choreography. If you want to know more about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and don’t have the patience or time to sit and read about him, you can invest 3 hours and watch his life on the big scree, it captures all milestone moments in life right from before his birth until him killing Afzal Khan during the Battle of Pratapgarh.

Hope our Raja Shivaji review helps you in deciding whether or not you should watch the film in theatres this weekend.

PS: The review has been penned after watching the Hindi version of Raja Shivaji.
PSS: The Marathi version of the film is approximately 8 minutes longer than the Hindi edition.

Jai Shivaji, Jai Bhawani.

Watch the trailer of Raja Shivaji here:

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Grinell Jacinto

With nearly 10 years of experience, Grinell Esther Jacinto is the Desk Head of Bollywood Bubble. Her interests lie in everything that is kaleshi and she loves to dig deeper into the lives of B-town actors. She has a problem though – she loves horror films but will have chills the minute the theatres lights dims. She’s previously worked with Koimoi, UrbanAsian and SpotboyE.