Chhaava: Makers to delete Lezim dance sequences from Vicky Kaushal, Rashmika Mandanna starrer; director says, 'If anyone is hurt by...'

Vicky Kaushal is all set to impress the audience with his upcoming film, Chhaava. He will be seen essaying the role of the celebrated Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. Recently, the trailer was unveiled and it left netizens mighty impressed. However, a section of people were unhappy to see a dance sequence in it. The same sparked a controversy and several politicians demanded the makers to delete the scenes featuring Sambhaji Maharaj performing Lezim dance with Maharani Yesubai. Now, director Laxman Utekar has confirmed that his film will not feature Sambhaji Maharaj performing a Lezim dance with his wife. He released an official statement to confirm the same. Read on...

Chhaava makers to delete Lezim dance sequence from the film

According to India Today, the makers decided to take this step after meeting MNS chief Raj Thackeray. In the statement, Laxman Utekar said that he met the politician and took 'some suggestions and guidance from him'. He shared, "And I can say, his words are very helpful for me. And after meeting him, I have decided to delete those scenes where we have shown Sambhaji Maharaj was playing Lezim dance. Lezim dance is not a big deal. Sambhaji Maharaj is very much bigger than that Lezim dance. So we are going to remove those scenes from film."

The upcoming film Chhaava is based on author Shivaji Sawant's book of the same name. The film highlights the story of Sambhaji Maharaj's valor and his reign after he became the Chhatrapati. The director shared that they imagined the celebrated warrior as a 20-year-old boy in the film. He further continued in the statement, "When Sambhaji Maharaj launched an attack in Barhanpur, he was just 20 years old. We have taken the rights of Shivaji Sawant's book titled Chhava where he wrote about Sambhaji Maharaj taking part in the Holi festival. He would remove a coconut from the holy fire. We thought of Maharaj as a 20-year-old. It was obvious that he had played the Lezim dance. And why not? Lezim is a part of Maratha culture. It is just our traditional dance. But, if anyone is hurt by those dance moves or Lezim dance, we will remove them. Lezim dance is not bigger than Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj."

Laxman Utekar, who earlier helmed Kriti Sanon's Mimi, also confirmed that the film will be shown to historians before it releases on the big screen. This decision was taken after many politicians insisted that the film should be screened for historians before its release. Utekar added, "We have organised a special premiere show on 29th of January. Some historians and people who study history will be there. We will take their guidance."

He further assured that the film, also starring Rashmika Mandanna and Akshaye Khanna, will hit theatres on the scheduled date, February 14, 2025.