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While the Hindi film industry has been going through a slump, Vicky Kaushal‘s Chhaava emerged as a surprise hit, becoming the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2025, earning more than Rs 800 crore at the box office. While many have credited Vicky’s power-packed performance for the film’s success, actor and filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar has a different view. He credited Maharashtra’s audience for the film’s success, not Vicky.
Vicky plays the historical character of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, on whose life Chhaava is based. Mahesh, in his interaction with Mirchi Marathi, argued that audiences thronged theatres not to see Vicky, but to see the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj play out on the big screen.
The filmmaker-actor said, “Vicky Kaushal is a very fine actor. His film Chhaava collected Rs 800 crore. But Vicky Kaushal can never say that people came to see him. Because then they would have come to see the previous five films as well. The audience came to see your character. His previous five films did not work.”
He added, “So my Maharashtra has saved the Hindi film industry, remember this. Today, Chhaava is doing well, and 80 percent of its credit goes to Maharashtra. In fact, 90 percent of the credit goes to Pune and the rest goes to other parts of Maharashtra. Maharashtra can save the industry.”
While Chhaava was a success at the box office, Vicky Kaushal’s last two films – Bad Newz and Sam Bahadur – weren’t major box office successes.
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