The recently released Chhaava, a historical action movie depicting the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj also known as Shambhuraje who ruled from 1681 to 1689 as the second king of the Maratha Empire has inadvertently generated a wave of hate and hostility against Indian Muslims across the India.
The Chhaava movie was theatrically released on 14 February and earned Rs 342.74 crore, making it the highest-grossing Indian film and Hindi film of 2025.
The movie, directed by Laxman Utekar, features Vicky Kaushal in the titular role of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. The project also featured Rashmika Mandanna as Yesubai Bhonsale, Akshaye Khanna as Aurangzeb, Diana Penty as Zinat-un-Nissa Begum, Ashutosh Rana as Hambirrao Mohite, and Divya Duta as Soyarabai.
The purpose of the movie was expected to honour the Maratha warrior legacy yet its portrayal of Mughal ruler Aurangzeb has ignited a dangerous anti-Muslim hate campaign across social media platforms.
The far-right politicians, Hindutva outfit members and their supporters have started intense social media warfare, disseminating memes and posts calling the Indian Muslims “Aurangzeb ki aulad” (children of Aurangzeb). The new wave fueled already existing hostility and hate against the contemporary Muslim community in India.
Extremist factions and their supporters have exploited the film’s depiction of Aurangzeb’s violent treatment of Sambhaji Maharaj and have vowed to “revenge” past atrocities. This exaggeration of the move has ultimately resulted in hate and rhetoric sentiment which has been amplified through WhatsApp forwards, X threads, Facebook posts and Instagram reels.
These posts convey the ulterior message that contemporary Indian Muslims should bear the burden and take responsibility for Aurangzeb’s past actions against “Hindus”, turning historical grievances into modern social hatred intended to stir up communal hostility.
Even though some of the highly viewed right-wing pages’ hate campaigns have not even spared Muslim actors of Bollywood. They uttered that the “Khans, woke, Islamists Nexus need to break from Hindus Indian movie Industry”.
In some alarming incidents, a series of disturbing video clips emerged from movie theatres across India, showing Hindu audiences delivering anti-Muslim speeches while offering tribute to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj after watching the movie. The circulation of these clips on social media has further encouraged the ongoing anti-Muslim campaign by Hindutva.
In another incident, Hindutva outfit members, led by Daksh Chaudhary, urinated on and vandalised the street signs of Akbar Road and Babar Road with black paint and posters renaming them as Chhatrapati Shivaji Marg.
Citing the movie “Chhaava” Chaudhary claimed they were infuriated after watching it and warned the government to remove all Mughal rulers’ names. They also chanted, “Tel lago Dabur ka naam mitado Babur ka”
The anti-Muslim hate fueled by the movie has led some right-wing users to celebrate the killings of Palestinians including infants, children and women killed by Israeli airstrikes.
The radical users have been flooded with disturbing posts connecting their hateful messages to worldwide anti-Muslim sentiment while portraying Israel’s attacks on Gaza as “revenge” against Muslims”.
PM Modi praises Chhaava
Chhaava movie received praise from several senior far-right political leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi he praised the movie while inaugurating the 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in New Delhi on Friday, February 21.
The PM remarked, “In dino to Chhaava ki dhoom machi hui hai (Chhaava is making waves throughout the country these days)”.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray section) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi urged Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis to make the movie tax-free in the state.
Activists voice concern
Several prominent figures including actors, historians and activists argue that historical portrayals should be responsibly displayed as they can endanger ongoing societal relations among different communities by targeting particular communities.
Some view Chhaava as a historical drama while others contend that its selective depiction of events has been exploited to vilify Islam and fuels Muslim hatred leading to an increase in discriminatory speech and hostile statements between communities.
Actress Swara Bhasker also commented on the movie, calling it a “partly fictionalised filmy torture of Hindus,” “A society that is more enraged at the heavily embellished partly fictionalised filmy torture of Hindus from 500 years ago than they are at the horrendous death by stampede & mismanagement + then alleged JCB bulldozer handling of corpses – is a brain & soul-dead society,” she wrote.
However, after this comment,t she was brutally targeted by right-wing users, accusing her of being “inherited anti-Hindu”. Responding to the backlash, the actress issued a statement t on X stating, “My tweet has generated much debate & avoidable misunderstanding. Without any doubt,t I respect the brave legacy and contribution of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.. especially his ideas of social justice & respect for women”.
“My limited point is that glorifying our history is great but please don’t misuse the glory of the past to hide the mistakes & failures of present times. Historical understanding should always be used to unite people & not to divide and divert attention from current issues. If my earlier tweet has hurt any sentiments that is regretted.. Like any other proud Indian, I am also proud of our history. Our history should unite us and give us strength to fight for a better and more inclusive future,” she added.
One user provided a reference to historical Maratha and Rajput battles, claiming that Indian history was never a war between Hindus and Islam but to gain territories and power.
“Chhaava The whole movie is to glorify Marathas (Hindu) and make Mughals (Islam) villains. According to the history of the Era, each one fought for their own territory. There were wars between Marathas and Rajputs too and both are Hindus”, the user wrote.
In recent years, Bollywood have shifted its narrative transitioning beyond traditional romance films into portrayals featuring Muslim characters in negative roles. The shift coincides with Hindutva movements and Islamophobic sentiments which have dominated Indian society, particularly since 2014 after the BJP came to power.
Since then, the country witnessed a troubling stereotyping trend that labelled Muslims as violent antagonists and terrorists. Several films including The Kerala Story, Hum Do Hamare Baarah, The Kashmir Files, Sooryavanshi, Tanhaji, and Padmaavat present a stereotypical view by connecting violent actions to Muslim identities and the backward thinking of Indian Muslims.
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