Rahul Jadhav announces his third historical action drama, Chava: The Great Warrior

Cinematographer-turned-director Rahul Jadhav is coming up with a historical action drama titled Chava: The Great Warrior, based on Maratha king Shivaji's elder son and successor Sambhaji. The film is adapted from Dr Jaysingrao Pawar's book titled Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj.

The filmmaker announced the project on Facebook with a motion poster which features a silhouette of Sambhaji astride a rearing horse.

Interestingly, this will be Jadhav's third historical film after Mogulmardini Chhatrapati Tararani (2022), which is based on Dr Jaysingrao Pawar's book of the same name, and Kanhoji Angre (2022). Both films are yet to be released. For those not familiar with Maratha history, Tarabai was married to Sambhaji's younger brother and successor Rajaram.

Talking about the film, director Jadhav said, "Shambhu Raje is a true youth icon. The first prince of Swarajya, who began studying politics from the age of nine, had strong command of martial arts, literature and 14 languages. I wanted to make a movie on a real superhero rather than a superhero of my imagination."

Novelist Pawar, on whose book the film is based, was excited about the adaptation. "Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj is a symbol of boundless sacrifice, extreme endurance, patriotism and martyrdom," he said. "I am confident that this movie will acquaint the current generation with the power of Shambhu Raje."

Chava: The Great Warrior is produced by Sunny Rajani and Vaibhav Bhor and presented by Malhar Pictures.

There is a long line of films being made on Maratha history and Chava: The Great Warrior is the latest addition to this list. It will be interesting to see if and for how long filmmakers are able to keep the audience interest in the genre alive.