Chhaava Review: Laxman Utekar Trades Light Comedy for Epic War

This Chhaava review starts with a simple point: Laxman Utekar has made a loud, muscular historical epic that puts its star front and center. Vicky Kaushal plays Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, and the film asks him to roar, brood and fight across a 161-minute canvas. It is a very different film from the lighter, family-friendly work Utekar is known for.

Chhaava Review: The Story So Far (No Spoilers)

The Chhaava plot opens after the death of Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha kingdom. His son Sambhaji inherits both the throne and a dangerous rivalry with the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The Mughals see a chance to crush the young state while it is still grieving.

What follows is a mix of battlefield clashes and court intrigue. Sambhaji must hold his fighters together, deal with doubts inside his own circle and keep up the resistance. The film is a historical drama at heart, but it leans hard into the spectacle of action cinema.

The writers, Rishi Virmani, Utekar and Kaustubh J. Savarkar, keep the set-up clear. You do not need prior knowledge of Maratha history to follow who is fighting whom, though a little background will deepen the experience.

What Works in Chhaava

The biggest strength is scale. Utekar stages large, crowded combat scenes with real physical weight, and the camera stays close enough to make the clashes feel brutal rather than decorative. The costumes and fortress settings give the period a lived-in look.

The film also knows what its audience wants. Heroic entrances, rousing speeches and charged face-offs arrive with confidence, and the pacing of the first half keeps momentum high. If you love big Hindi historical epics, this delivers the goods.

• Muscular, well-staged battle sequences

• A clear hero-versus-tyrant structure

• Rich period design that sells the setting

Chhaava Cast and Performances

The Chhaava cast is led by Vicky Kaushal, who commits fully to the role. He brings a bruising physicality and a raw, shouting intensity, yet he finds quieter moments of doubt and grief that stop Sambhaji from becoming a statue. It is one of his most demanding turns.

Akshaye Khanna is the standout opposite him as Aurangzeb. He plays the emperor with a calm, cold stillness, and that restraint makes him far scarier than any shouting villain would be. Their scenes together are the sharpest in the film.

Rashmika Mandanna plays Yesubai Bhonsale and brings warmth and dignity, though the part gives her limited room. Ashutosh Rana as Hambirrao Mohite, Divya Dutta as Soyarabai and Pradeep Ram Singh Rawat as Yesaji Kank add solid support.

Where Chhaava Stumbles

At 161 minutes, the film sometimes feels long, and a few stretches repeat the same emotional beats. Some speeches run past their welcome, and the tone can tip into one-note grandeur where a little subtlety would have helped.

Supporting characters, especially the women, are underwritten compared with the leads. The film also clearly favors heroic myth over nuance, so viewers wanting a balanced historical study may find it one-sided. Think of it as a stirring tribute rather than a documentary.

Is Chhaava Worth Watching?

Yes, if you enjoy large-scale historical epics, Chhaava is worth watching. Kaushal and Khanna give it real heat, and Utekar handles the spectacle with confidence. It is audience-pleasing filmmaking with genuine ambition.

It will not reinvent the genre, and its length and broad strokes hold it back from greatness. Still, viewers on TMDB gave it a 7/10, and that feels fair. For more in this vein, browse our war movie reviews.

For background on the film, see its IMDb page.

Who Will Enjoy Chhaava

• Fans of Indian historical epics and large-scale battle films

• Viewers who want to see Vicky Kaushal in a ferocious, physical role

• Anyone drawn to strong hero-versus-villain showdowns