Vicky Kaushal says Chhaava’s deleted Lezim dance sequence was ‘not important to the story’, but was an ‘effort of taking our culture to the globe’

The Vicky Kaushal-starrer Chhaava is scheduled to release next week, but even before its release, the film found itself embroiled in a controversy. Soon after the release of the film’s trailer, a section of the audience objected to visuals of Vicky, playing Sambhaji Maharaj, was seen dancing. The dance being performed was a Maharashtrian folk dance named Lezim. Director Laxman Utekar has now removed the objectionable parts from the film, and in a recent interview, Vicky said that the dance sequence was “not important to the story of the movie,” but was an attempt to spread Indian culture across the globe.

Talking about the making of the film, Vicky shared with reporters, as quoted by PTI, “Not a single day went by when we didn’t start work on the film without the Shivgarjana (slogans about the courage of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj).” When asked about the deleted dance sequence, Vicky said, “The Lezim part was just for 20-30 seconds (in the film). Not just a (part of the) story but it was an effort of taking our culture to the globe.”

Defending the dance sequence further, he added, “Sambhaji Maharaj was a king of the people and if someone asked him to play (Lezim) with them, the king would definitely oblige. But if his followers feel it was a bit off… It is not important to the story of the movie, so we have removed it,” he added.

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Previously, Laxman Utekar said that he removed the dance sequence after a meeting with Raj Thackeray. He said in a statement, “I have met Raj Thackeray. He is an avid reader and studious person. So I have taken some suggestions and guidance from him. 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.” He also added, “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.”