Love, drama, and royalty: Chhaava led by Vicky Kaushal and Rashmika Mandanna to rule this Valentine's Day

100%! This has been the most physically demanding and challenging role for me because I’ve never done anything like this before. It’s my first historical period film, which required a complete physical transformation—putting on about 25 kilos of muscle mass, sword fighting, action training, growing a beard, and growing my hair. All of this takes time, and it took about six to seven months of preparation to achieve.

I don’t know about feeling like a star, but it’s definitely a genre every actor aspires to do and wants to tick off their bucket list. It’s because of the grandeur, and, you know, there are always sentiments and emotions attached. Whenever you delve into history and portray great kings and warriors, the stories are always high on emotion. So, obviously, you look forward to it, and I’m very happy that, for me, it happened.

Firstly, you know, the zone was simplified for me by my director, Lakshman, very simply at the beginning of the process, where he said, “I just want you to be a lion.” No matter what you say, no matter what you are talking—even if you’re screaming, roaring, or saying something politely in a low volume—I should still feel like you’re a lion. So every breath of you should feel like a lion. When you get that kind of simple brief, it just simplifies things, and you’re always in that zone.

Yes, there was always a playlist for every part. I always have a playlist. For this, there was a combination of a lot of high-energy Marathi songs and some other songs as well. Sometimes those songs put you in a certain headspace, which is required for that emotion in the scene. But there was a playlist that I would listen to before going on set.

They will be educated. They will be entertained. Because the idea, the goal of making this film, is to make the story of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj reach every household—not just in the country, but across the globe. A life like his and a sacrifice like his needs to be celebrated, needs to be talked about, needs to be known. So that’s been our effort—to present the story as authentically as possible, as unapologetically as possible, and as grandly as possible.

So I’m a guy who’s born and raised in Mumbai. I’ve grown up having Maharashtrian friends all around me—in my building, in my school, in my college till date. So I am familiar with Maratha culture, Maratha history. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj have been in my history books when I was in school, so I was familiar, but not with the finer details. I got to know the finer bits when I took up this work, and I had to play him. I was so fascinated, so surprised, and actually shocked that we didn't tell his story a long time ago. Why haven’t we told this story before? Why did nobody think of presenting this story before? The emotion, the drama, the valor, the courage—everything is super high-octane in this film.

Films that audiences connect with are those they find authentic, honest, and entertaining—regardless of budget or genre. A film like Jawan works exceptionally well, but so does a film like 12th Fail, which is equally celebrated. The key is to tell a great story in an honest way with clear intentions. Additionally, when asking audiences to spend three hours in a cinema without their phones, the film must be a visual treat—high on stimulation and excitement. In the case of period or historical films, that’s naturally embedded, as the aim is to transport viewers to another era.

Hats off to Laxman Sir’s conviction. From the very first narration, he was certain that Rashmika would play Maharani Yesubai. Naturally, the initial thought was whether she, being from South India, would be familiar with the language and culture. But he assured me that no one else could embody the look of a Maharashtrian queen like she could. And I completely agree—when I saw her in full attire on set, she looked regal, royal, and every bit like Maharani Yesubai.

The way he’s played it is incredible. He’s unrecognisable—you must’ve seen that in the trailer. He’s taken evilness to another level.