The film Chhaava, starring Vicky Kaushal as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, has been garnering love from all parts of the country, but it seems to have upset the descendants of Maratha warriors Ganoji and Kanhoji Shirke's descendants. They accused the film of showing the duo in negative light, and even threatened to file a Rs 100 crore defamation suit, post which director Laxman Utekar issued an apology.
In the film Chhaava, it is shown that Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj's closest men, Ganoji and Kanhoji, joined hands with Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and betrayed the Maratha ruler, which led to his gruesome death.
Post the film's release, Laxmikant Raje Shirke, 13th descendant of Ganoji and Kanhoji Shirke, slammed the makers for blatant "misinterpretation of historical facts". "It tarnishes the family’s reputation. Hence, we have issued a notice to the film director and will file a defamation case of Rs 100 crore against him," he said in an official statement.
Laxman Utekar apologises to Shirke family
On February 20, the family issued a notice to Utekar, demanding clarification and urged him to make necessary changes in the film.
As per local news portal Pudhari, Utekar then reached out to Bhushan Shirke, one of the descendants, and apologised to him for hurting the family's sentiments unintentionally. He also stated that the last names and the name of the village of both Ganoji and Kanhoji were not mentioned in the film.
"We have only mentioned the names of Ganoji and Kanhoji in Chhaava, without referring to their surname. We’ve also made sure to not disclose the village they belonged to. Our intention was not to hurt the sentiments of the Shirke family. I sincerely apologise if Chhaava caused any discomfort," the director reportedly told Shirke.
Meanwhile, the Shirke family has warned of statewide protests if their concerns were not addressed and their demands were not met.
Chhaava box office collection
Chhaava has emerged to be a hit at the box office, and after its second weekend, the film's total collection has mounted to Rs 326 crore in India, making it the biggest film of Vicky's career till date.
The film also stars Rashmika Mandanna as Yesubai Bhosale, Vineet Kumar Singh as Kavi Kalash, Akshaye Khanna as Aurangzeb, among others.
