Chhaava Review - One Man Show!

Ashwin Ram

Chhaava is a historical war drama film starring Vicky Kaushal and Rashmika Mandanna in the lead roles. Directed by Laxman Utekar and the music is scored by A.R.Rahman.

Premise:

After the demise of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, how his son Chhatrapati Sambhaji takes charge and save the Maratha empire against the Mughals form the crux of the story.

Writing/ Direction:

The whole backstory is orally explained with Amitabh Bachchan’s voice-over during the title credits, the villain’s agenda is also established even before the hero’s introduction. But the film took nearly two hours to take-off with full force. The conflict is convincing enough to create a cracker of a historical saga, the internal drama aspect between the Marathas has a promising start, but the focus is missing. The above mentioned points are not developed well to be strengths for the storytelling, the talkie portions are dry with less on substance and the action set pieces fail to impress, plus they are incoherently placed with the flow. None of the supporting characters are registered effectively, so their deaths are not impactful and the twists surrounding them don’t hit us with a shock value. The last 45 minutes is the saviour, a lengthy fight where the hero is captured by the Mughals is captivating. The final act that follows is filled with powerful moments and clap-worthy dialogues.

Performances:

Such a commendable performance from Vicky Kaushal, the control he has over his body elevates his presence impeccably. Dummy role for Rashmika Mandanna, she has been wasted without giving any importance in the story. There is no dynamism in Akshaye Khanna’s acting, also his makeup looked very artificial. Cocktail fame Diana Penty on-screen after a while, sadly she is just placed as a beautiful statue with nothing much to do.

Technicalities:

Just a couple of songs but the spark is missing in the tunes to make them likeable. On the other hand, A.R.Rahman’s rousing score saves the film in many situations, especially certain tasteless action stretches. Quality camera work, although there are no nuances in the presentation, the grand vision is visible. Hopeless editing as many scene orders and shot alignments are messed up. Stunts help in the last hour to showcase the bravery of the hero, inventive to an extent while setting up certain war sequences, but the execution is half-baked and not punchy enough, the violent elements does the intended trick of being disturbing.

Bottomline

The brutal last hour and Vicky Kaushal’s stunning performance are the selling points. The flat narrative does colossal damage till a point with many characters and situations not being intact.

Rating - 2.5/ 5