Rishab Shetty's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj film's writer duo Siddharth-Garima on Chhaava's impact: It opened…
Writer duo Siddharth-Garima talk about how the success of Vicky Kaushal-starrer Chhaava impacts their film on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with Rishab Shetty
Vicky Kaushal-starrer Chhaava came and roared at the box-office and is still running in theatres close to two months later. Lyricist-writer-director duo Siddharth Singh and Garima Wahal see the film’s success as the perfect groundwork for their upcoming film on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, The Pride Of Bharat, with actor Rishab Shetty in the lead. “From the trailer itself we knew the film will work big with the masses, so it lays the ground for us. In a sort of subtle way, it opens up the Maharashtrian history to the world,” says Siddharth.
Garima adds to it saying, “Chhaava is like the tip of the iceberg, there is so much more there. They have only touched upon this one incident and see how well it has work with the people. With Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, there is so much more to say and to show that we are wondering how to contain all this in a single film. It's massive, magical and magnificent. Chhaava has given a great starter to us, and may it be the beginning of such epics being told.”
The duo has watched the Laxman Utekar directorial, but feel it had scope of improvement. “Honestly, we thought it could have been much better. But after the box office figures, it seems it connected well with the audience,” Siddharth says, while Garima insists, “In terms of the writing of the film, there was a lot more to be explored in the storytelling and screenplay. But it makes us believe that we can do this well. It's our job to draw inspiration from one another and if one person does well, the other one should take a leaf out of their book.”
Ask them if they feel a Kannada actor like Rishab Shetty fits well in the image of a Maratha king and Siddharth says, “It used to be called Dakkhan back then, and not just Maharashtra but Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, etc were all a part of it. So, we see it that way. Also, all actors are dying to portray characters which are larger than life. It’s as good as taking anybody from Maharashtra or taking anybody from Kashmir for that matter. You just have to find a match.”
Talking about their leading man, Garima says, “Rishab's strength is in the fact that what he has done in Kantara is completely magical. He has brought alive mythology in a space where people were scampering to know what subjects they should make next. When films were falling at the box office left, right and centre, he brought out something so original, and he portrayed it so well. He is a powerhouse of an actor. We feel that there could have been maybe someone else, but no one better than him to portray this iconic character of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. We can totally associate him with the king and it didn't take us a second to imagine him or his presence as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.” The duo adds that the scripting of their film is currently underway and they hope to take it on floors by year-end.
