The action film based on the life of Sambhaji, who succeeded his father Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha kingdom, to the throne, has become the subject of a raging controversy. With the brutality that Sambhaji faced when he refused to bow before the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb reinvigorating stories of the Maratha empire’s glory in people’s minds, Chhaava is expectedly being used by the right-wing to push forward its divisive anti-Muslim agenda. In Maharashtra, however, where King Sambhaji fought and died 336 years ago, the film has stirred a public debate not just on the lines of religion but also on caste, the idea of Maharashtra, and much more.
The film is based on the Marathi novel Chhaava, a word that means “cub”. The novel was written by the popular Marathi novelist Shivaji Sawant, whose other works such as Mrutyunjay on the life of Karna, a heroic figure in the Mahabharata, and Yugandhar on the life of the god Krishna were beloved for generations. Chhaava was first published in 1979, but it was not the first novel or book on King Sambhaji’s life. Many other books were written on Sambhaji before that, and mentions of Sambhaji in various plays, novels, and books before Chhava came into the hands of readers. But Chhaava was different. It accurately reflected the politics around King Sambhaji and the core of the Maharashtrian battle for supremacy over the years.
