Raja Shivaji (Telugu Dub) Review
“A grand salute to Swarajya — Raja Shivaji is Marathi cinema's biggest swing, and it largely connects.”
Agent Athreya·Overview
Riteish Deshmukh has been talking about this film like a man possessed for years — and on Maharashtra Day 2026, he finally delivered his labour of love to theatres. Raja Shivaji is a big-canvas historical action-drama about the rise of Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhonsale, the founder of the Maratha Empire. Think grandeur, battle horns, and a filmmaker betting his entire career on one shot.
Story
The film traces young Shivaji's formative years — his mother Jijabai's influence, his strategic brilliance against the Adilshahi Sultanate, and his burning vision of Hindavi Swarajya — self-rule for his people. We follow him through key historical milestones, including the famous confrontation at Pratapgad with Afzal Khan. It's a biopic in structure but built like an event film — episodes of valour strung together with emotional weight. No fictional love-triangle padding, no manufactured sentiment — it stays close to the history.
What Works
Riteish Deshmukh's performance. Yes, people trolled him in trailers. Yes, he's not six feet tall. But the man silences every doubter on screen. His Shivaji carries quiet authority — the kind that doesn't need to shout to command a room. That restraint takes skill.
The Pratapgad sequence with Salman Khan as Jeeva Mahala. This is the interval-bang-level moment the entire film has been building to. Salman walks in, protects his king, and the single-screen crowd presumably went berserk. Perfectly placed, perfectly executed.
War choreography. Action designer Parvez Shaikh has given Marathi cinema its first taste of large-scale, grounded battlefield chaos. These aren't superhero punches — swords have weight, formation matters, and men actually fall like men.
Sanjay Dutt and Abhishek Bachchan as adversaries. Both bring the right kind of menace — not cartoonish villainy, but political threat. Abhishek in particular seems to be having a genuine moment here.
The emotional core. Audience reactions specifically mention the film being 'emotionally resonant,' and Genelia Deshmukh as Saibai is credited with giving the emotional scenes their grounding. She's not just royal furniture — she registers.
What Doesn't
The runtime needs trimming. 195 minutes for the Marathi version is a lot to ask of general audiences, and while no major pacing complaints have surfaced yet, a film this packed with events could easily tighten its second half by 15-20 minutes without losing anything essential.
Telugu release? What Telugu release? This has to be said plainly — as of opening day, there were no Telugu posters, no Telugu promos, no BookMyShow listings for the dubbed version. For Telugu audiences, this film basically doesn't exist in theatres yet. A ₹100–200 crore production with zero Telugu marketing is a massive missed opportunity, especially on an open weekend. If the Telugu dub eventually arrives, we'll revisit the dubbing quality — but right now, it was an afterthought.
Hindi advance booking was lukewarm. Which suggests the film's emotional pull is deeply rooted in Marathi cultural identity. Pan-India crossover wasn't achieved at the box office level yet, even with the star-studded cast.
Technical Aspects
Santosh Sivan's cinematography is doing serious work here — the man who shot Asoka and Dil Se brings that same epic visual language to 17th-century Maharashtra, and early footage confirms the Western Ghats have rarely looked this cinematic. Ajay-Atul's music has been the universal point of agreement since the trailer — thunderous, rooted, and genuinely stirring. The production design on the Shivneri Fort set built at Film City is reported to be the most ambitious in Marathi film history, and it shows.
What the Audience Is Saying
Marathi audience reactions on Day 1 were electric — words like 'monumental,' 'power-packed,' and 'celebration of Swarajya' were flying across social media. Fan ratings peaked at 4.5/5 from early viewers. The consensus seems to be that Riteish surprised everyone, and the war sequences hit harder than anything Marathi cinema has attempted before.
Athreya's Verdict
Raja Shivaji is the film Riteish Deshmukh was born to make — flawed in runtime, but enormous in ambition and heart. For Telugu viewers? Wait for the dubbed version to actually arrive in theatres near you, because right now the rollout is a mystery. When it does, this one earns a watch on the big screen. Some kings deserve a big screen. This is one of them.
