Chhatrapati Sambhaji

The historical action flick captures details from the life of Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. Grand props and a large number of extras bring to life an age-old legend in Chhatrapati Sambhaji.

The story relies extensively on narrative leaps without taking time to expand on the king’s journey or the nuances of his life. The dialogues are performed in play format and they reduce the immersive value significantly. The director places flashbacks within flashbacks only to forget resolving them.

The actors have done a decent job at portraying the roles. Mohan Joshi and Mrunal Kulkarni give standout performances, while Shashank Udapurkar in the action but falters in dialogue delivery. The action sequences are of special note but the rudimentary edits and poor background music take away from them. The story lapses into TV serial-esque camera treatment and the close-ups are over dramatic. There is a significant amount of emotion attached to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, and the hope was that this film would surface some of the less known facts and events from his life. But it doesn't. Poor execution and technical slip-ups ruin a story for the ages.