The recently released Vicky Kushal starrer Chhaava, a historical action movie depicting the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj also known as Shambhuraje who ruled from 1681 to 1689 as the second king of the Maratha Empire has inadvertently generated a wave of hate and hostility against Indian Muslims across the country.
Far-right politicians, Hindutva outfit members and their supporters have started an intense social media warfare, disseminating memes and posts calling the Indian Muslims “Aurangzeb ki aulad” (children of Aurangzeb). The new wave fueled already existing hostility and hate against the contemporary Muslim community in India.
Extremist factions and their supporters have exploited the film’s depiction of Aurangzeb’s violent treatment of Sambhaji Maharaj and have vowed to “revenge” past atrocities. This exaggeration has resulted in hate and rhetoric sentiment amplified through WhatsApp forwards, X threads, Facebook posts and Instagram reels.
Kashmiri Hindu, an X account with a huge number of far-right Hindutva followers targeted Indian Muslim actors stating the Hindi movie industry “needs a break from the Khans.”
In some alarming incidents, a series of disturbing video clips emerged from movie theatres across India, showing Hindu audiences delivering anti-Muslim speeches while offering tribute to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj after watching the movie. The circulation of these clips on social media has further encouraged the ongoing anti-Muslim campaign by Hindutva.
In another incident, Hindutva outfit members led by Daksh Chaudhary urinated and vandalised the street signs of Akbar Road and Babar Road located in the national capital with black paint and posters renaming them as Chhatrapati Shivaji Marg.
Chaudhary claimed they were infuriated after watching the movie and warned the government to remove all Mughal rulers’ names. They also chanted, “Tel lago Dabur ka naam mitado Babur ka” (Put on Dabur’s oil and erase Babur’s name).
The anti-Muslim hate fueled by the movie has led some right-wing accounts to post disturbing and hateful messages against the killings of Palestinians by Israeli airstrikes with some terming it “revenge against Muslims”.
PM Modi praises Chhaava
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while inaugurating the 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in New Delhi, praised the movie Chhaava remarking, “In dino to Chhaava ki dhoom machi hui hai (Chhaava is making waves throughout the country these days).”
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray section) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi urged Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis to make the movie tax-free in the state.
Activists voice concern
Several prominent figures including actors, historians and activists argue that historical portrayals should be responsibly displayed as they can endanger ongoing societal relations among different communities by targeting particular communities.
Some view Chhaava as a historical drama while others contend that its selective depiction of events has been exploited to vilify Islam leading to an increase in discriminatory speech and hostile statements between religious communities.
Actress Swara Bhasker commented calling the movie a “partly fictionalised filmy torture of Hindus,”
“A society that is more enraged at the heavily embellished partly fictionalised filmy torture of Hindus from 500 years ago than they are at the horrendous death by stampede & mismanagement + then alleged JCB bulldozer handling of corpses – is a brain & soul-dead society,” she wrote on X.
She was brutally trolled by right-wing users accusing her of being “inherited anti-Hindu”.
Later she clarified stating her tweet was misunderstood. “My tweet has generated much debate & avoidable misunderstanding. Without any doubt, I respect the brave legacy and contribution of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.. especially his ideas of social justice & respect for women,” the actress issued a statement.
“My limited point is that glorifying our history is great but please don’t misuse the glory of the past to hide the mistakes & failures of present times. Historical understanding should always be used to unite people & not to divide and divert attention from current issues. If my earlier tweet has hurt any sentiments that is regretted.. Like any other proud Indian, I am also proud of our history. Our history should unite us and give us strength to fight for a better and more inclusive future,” she added.
One user provided a reference to historical Maratha and Rajput battles claiming that Indian history was never a war between Hindus and Islam but to gain territories and power.
“Chhaava The whole movie is to glorify Marathas (Hindu) and make Mughals (Islam) villains. According to the history of the Era, each one fought for their own territory. There were wars between Marathas and Rajputs too and both are Hindus”, the user wrote.
Chhaava was theatrically released on February 14 and has till now earned Rs 342.74 crore to rank as the highest-grossing Indian film and the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2025.
The movie directed by Laxman Utekar features Vicky Kaushal in the titular role of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. The project stars Rashmika Mandanna as Yesubai Bhonsale, Akshaye Khanna as Aurangzeb, Vineet Kumar Singh as Kavi Kalash, Diana Penty as Zinat-un-Nissa Begum, Ashutosh Rana as Hambirrao Mohite, and Divya Dutta as Soyarabai.
