“Vicky Kaushal Cannot Say…”: Mahesh Manjrekar's Shocking Comment On ‘Chhaava’ Success
Mahesh Manjrekar believes Vicky Kaushal didn't have anything to do with the success of 'Chhaava'.
‘Chhaava’ took 2025 by storm, becoming the biggest Hindi blockbuster of the year. Starring Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, and Rashmika Mandanna, the historical epic has raked in over Rs 600 crore at the Indian box office — a figure unlikely to be matched before Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR’s much-anticipated ‘War 2’. Globally, it made nearly Rs 800 crore. Despite the roaring success, veteran actor-director Mahesh Manjrekar believes Vicky Kaushal had little to do with it, crediting the film’s triumph to the pride and passion of Maharashtra’s people for Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj’s story.
He said that ‘Chhaava’, directed by Laxman Utekar, worked at the box office because of the historical character and not Vicky Kaushal.
“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,” Mahesh Manjrekar told Mirchi Marathi.
“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,” he added.
As per industry tracker Sacnilk, ‘Chhaava’ earned Rs 601.30 crore across all languages in India. Out of this Rs 601 crore, Rs 585.43 were earned in the Hindi version, while the rest Rs 15.87 crore were collected in the Telugu version.
‘Chhaava’, a period drama, brought to life the legendary story of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, played by Vicky Kaushal. The film portrayed his courageous reign and started with his coronation in 1681.
The film also saw Rashmika Mandanna essaying the role of Maharani Yesubai. Akshaye Khanna featured as Aurangzeb, Ashutosh Rana as Sarsenapati Hambirao Mohite, and Divya Dutta as Soyarabai.
‘Chhaava’ is an adaptation of the Marathi novel ‘Chhava’ by Shivaji Sawant. The film’s score and soundtrack album were composed by AR Rahman, with lyrics penned by Irshad Kamil.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also praised the film during his address at the 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan at Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi.
“Ye Maharashtra aur Mumbai hi hai jisne Marathi filmo ke saath saath, Hindi cinema ko ye unchai di hai. Aur in dino toh, Chhaava ki dhoom machi hui hai,” PM Modi said.
