Vicky Kaushal’s recent period film, ‘Chhaava’ has emerged as a blockbuster amid the Bollywood slump. The film recently became the first non-sequel Hindi title to cross the 600-crore threshold domestically. Several critics and fans have lauded Kaushal’s captivating performance in the film. However, filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar does not share the same opinion. He believes that the actor is not the reason behind the film’s impressive success.

During his interaction with Mirchi Marathi, Mahesh Manjrekar argued that audiences thronged theatres not to see Vicky Kaushal. He believes that the viewers went to see the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj on the big screen. “Vicky Kaushal is a very fine actor. His film Chhaava collected Rs 800 crore. But Vicky Kaushal can never say that people came to see him. Because then they would have come to see the previous five films as well. The audience came to see your character. His previous five films did not work.”

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The filmmaker added, “So my Maharashtra has saved the Hindi film industry, remember this. Today, Chhaava is doing well, and 80 percent of its credit goes to Maharashtra. In fact, 90 percent of the credit goes to Pune, and the rest goes to other parts of Maharashtra. Maharashtra can save the industry.”

 

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‘Chhaava’ chronicles the life of Maratha warrior, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. The historical saga is the third Indian film to cross 600 crores domestically after ‘Pushpa 2’ and ‘Stree 2.’ The film boasts the milestone solely on its merit and is the first non-sequel film to cross the threshold. Despite debuting on OTT, the title is having a strong theatrical run.

Moreover, while the film collected over 600 crores in India, the worldwide collections are much higher. ‘Chhaava’ has already crossed the 800-crore mark worldwide, earning around 807 crores.

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In ‘Chhaava,’ Vicky stars alongside Rashmika Mandanna and Akshaye Khanna. Laxman Utekar has helmed the film while Dinesh Vijan has backed the title under his banner, Maddock. The historic actioner is currently streaming on Netflix.