Chaava: A Grand Vision Weighed Down by Execution.

Direction : Laxman Utekar

Screenplay : Laxman Utekar, Rishi Virmani, Kaustubh Savarkar, Unman Bankar, Omkar Mahajan.

Dialogues: Rishi Virmani

Cinematography: Sourabh Goswami

Editing: Manish Pradhan

Music: A.R Rahman

Makeup: Mahendra More,, Prem Salunkhe, 

Hair Style: Avinash Jadhav, Densi Sharma.

Production Company: Maddock Films.

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshay Khanna, Rashmika Mandana, Ashutosh Rana, Divya Datta, Vinit Kumar Singh, Diana Penty, Sarang Sathe, etc.

Chhaava Translated as Lion’s Cub is a Hindi-language historical action film based on the life of Maratha king Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj(portrayed by Vicky Kaushal) and his quest, sacrifice and struggle as a Chatrapati against internal and external forces, especially against Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. The film is an adaptation of the Marathi novel by Shivaji Sawant of the same name. 

The film gathered a lot of hype since its announcement and grabbed even more eyeballs since its trailer was released with its adrenaline-rushing dialogues and visuals. In reality, the film as an experience is visually brilliant but has many flaws.

Visually the film is brilliant, the cinematography by Saurabh Goswami will hold your attention and successfully does it throughout.

 Costume designer Sheetal Sharma has done a brilliant job with the looks of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, and the rest of the star cast and extras teleport you to that era. Prosthetic Designer Preeti Singh D’souza is the real gem of the film when you witness the climax.

The performance will be remembered for a long time because of Vicky Kaushal as Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, Ashutosh Rana as Sarlashkar Hambirao Mohite, and Vineet Kumar Singh as Kavi Kalash. But the biggest dud was the performance of Rashmika Mandana playing Maharani Yesubai, mainly due to her accent, she looked underconfident throughout her screen presence.

The biggest flaw of the film was its editing, it was sloppy and it could distract you from the situation, also the continuity was lost in some places even in action sequences. Also some places things do not make a lot of sense and you feel it could have been better.

Talking about the flaws the first half was kind of slow and really couldn't establish characters and situations that effectively and that's where the direction took a back seat. Like the flawed editing, the film’s music composed by A.R Rahman was a bit disappointing and couldn't elevate the first half. However, the second half offers a lot in all the departments that were missing in the first half of the film.

In conclusion, the slow first half, messy editing, the Background score in the first half, and many such things could disappoint you but I would say that the second half saves the film, still providing an experience of a historical film probably leaving theaters with a heavy heart, smile, and some tears.