Digpal Lanjekar's Pawankhind to be released in theatres on 31 December

Digpal Lanjekar's much awaited historical action drama Pawankhind has got a release date. The multi-starrer film will be released in theatres on 31 December. This means the film will go up against the much-awaited Hindi sports film Jersey, starring Shahid Kapoor.

The makers announced the release date with a new poster that features a silhouette of Baji Prabhu Deshpande on top of a pile of dead soldiers, wielding swords in both hands, in the foreground with Chinmay Mandlekar as the Maratha king Shivaji in the background.

The film stars Ajay Purkar as Baji Prabhu Deshpande. It also features an ensemble cast including Mrinal Kulkarni, Astad Kale, Akshay Waghmare, Harish Dudhade, Ankit Mohan, Prajakta Mali, Rishi Saxena and Shivraj Waichal.

The film was scheduled to be released on 10 June, but that plan had to be called off as the country was still reeling from the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pawankhind is the third in Lanjekar's series of 17th century historical films after Farzand (2018) and Fatteshikast (2019). It recounts the story of Baji Prabhu Deshpande's valiant fight at the head of 600 Maratha troops to delay a force of nearly 10,000 Adilshahi soldiers long enough at a narrow mountain pass to allow Shivaji, who had escaped from Panhala fort near Kolhapur, to reach the safety of Vishalgad.

Pawankhind is produced by Almonds Creation and Chintamani Developers.