Historical epic movies tend to distort real facts on a regular basis to heighten the entertainment factor—and when mainstream Bollywood movies are taken into consideration, this is all the more evident. For all their artistic value and technical brilliance, classic historical movies like Mughal-e-Azam, Jodhaa Akbar, Bajirao Mastani, and Asoka often took flights of fancy when it came to characterization and depiction of key events. This tendency marks a departure from reality so immense that the movies end up lacking historical value. The recently released Chhaava, directed by Laxman Utekar, which chronicles the prime years of the legendary Sambhaji, son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, is no exception in that regard. Even though the movie is an adaptation of late Marathi writer Shivaji Sawant’s novel of the same name, it mostly operates as a one-man hero commercial Bollywood movie instead of a historical saga. Let us have a comparative discussion about the situations shown in the movie and how close they were to real-life scenarios when it comes to the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji.
Sambhaji’s Relation With His Father
Chhaava focuses on Sambhaji’s prime years, his ascension to the throne of the Maratha Kingdom following Shivaji Maharaj’s demise, and for a major part of the movie, his drive to be a worthy successor and uphold the legacy of his father becomes a recurrent topic. While the movie shows how devoted Sambhaji was towards his father, in real life the father-son duo initially shared an estranged relationship due to their differing ideologies. While accounts differ when it comes to what was the true reason behind their terse relationship, what historians know for sure is that Sambhaji allied with Aurangzeb’s general, Diler Khan—much to the shock and dismay of the first Chhatrapati. As a result, a much younger Rajaram—Shivaji’s son with Soyarabai—was considered to succeed him to the Maratha throne during Sambhaji’s absence and in response to his decision to change allegiance. This is one aspect the movie doesn’t show, and changes the reason for his absence completely to get rid of a complexity in characterization. It should be mentioned that as part of political diplomacy, both Sambhaji and Shivaji maintained good relations with Mu’azzam—Aurangzeb’s son—but Sambhaji actually defected to side with Diler Khan during the final years of Shivaji’s reign.
Execution of Ministers
The instance in the movie where it is shown that Sambhaji had ordered the execution of Soyarabai’s loyalist ministers through brutal trampling by war elephants was not far-fetched, as courtiers like Hiroji Bhosale and Rupaji Mane were killed in a similar manner for conspiring against him. However, in reality, much later during his reign, Sambhaji had executed an additional 24 crucial members of the Maratha royal court as well, the repercussions of which were significant. The courtiers were loyal to Shivaji, and their absence caused an administrative fragility in later years—which led to a larger conspiracy against Sambhaji and him getting betrayed by his own people at the end.
Relation With Colonial Forces
One aspect of Sambhaji’s life that the movie simply glosses over is the relationship of the Maratha Kingdom with European colonizing forces like the English and Portuguese. In the movie, it is shown that an amicable, non-confrontational relation existed between Sambhaji’s Maratha forces and that of the colonial powers—which is far from the real truth. The Portuguese actively aided Mughals with supplies and provided passes and forts, which strengthened Aurangzeb’s campaign in the Southern belt of the country. Sambhaji led the Marathas to brutally retaliate against such betrayal, given the Portuguese were given refuge in the South in the first place. The Marathas raided Goa, Salcette, and Bardez, and its impact shook the Portuguese to the core. In fact, Sambhaji’s brutal campaigns against the Portuguese caused some of the Maratha factions and deshmukhs to turn their backs on him, as the king was willing to destroy his resources to deny supply to the Portuguese. It is at this point in time that Sambhaji ordered the killing of 24 representatives of the royal court, which weakened his hold over the Maratha Kingdom.
Sambhaji opted for maintaining diplomatic relations with the English, as he realized the necessity of British gunpowder in the ongoing conflict with the Mughals. Sambhaji was also involved in conflict with the Abyssinian refugee Siddi community, following in the footsteps of Shivaji.
Death and Legacy
Chhaava stays true to the real-life account of the final phase of Sambhaji’s life. Following the death of his most trusted commander and guardian figure, Hambirrao Mohite, Sambhu was betrayed by his own brother-in-law, Ganoji Shirke, who revealed his location to the Mughal forces, which led to the capture of both Sambhaji and his dear friend Kavi Kalash. Both of them were tortured, and Aurangzeb’s efforts to convince Sambhu to abandon his principles, religion, and identity in exchange for his life was met with ridicule and mockery. The movie also accurately depicts how Sambhaji’s death inspired the Marathas to continue their resistance with more enthusiasm, whereas Aurangzeb’s personal vendetta against Marathas weakened the entire Mughal Empire. After Sambhaji’s death, Aurangzeb spent more than a decade in the Deccan region, fighting with the new generation of Maratha leaders like Rajaram, Rani Tarabai, and Shahu—and breathed his last in Ahmednagar, in Southern India. But his grave also became the proverbial burial ground of the sovereign Mughal Empire, as their control over the northern part of the country weakened severely. Using this opportunity, Rajputanas and Jats declared independence, and the fractured governance paved the way for British control over the continent.
