Chhava Is A Story, Expanded Into A Novel

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 17 March 2025 "This Film Is Not A Historical Film. It Is Based On The Novel Chhava By Shivaji Samant. Already The Filmmakers Had To Apologise For Inaccuracies In The Film." Ram Puniyani Mr Ram Puniyani is spot-on. Now let me tell you the background story of this 'story' called 'Chhava'. Since Mr Puniyani is based in Bombay, correct me if I'm wrong. More than 35 years ago, one premier English daily of Central India, Hitavada, carried a write up. By the way, Hitavada is headquartered in Nagpur and now published from Bhopal and Raipur as well. The newspaper is owned by a turncoat whose name is Banwari Lal Purohit. Yes, the same man who was the Governor of Punjab until a couple of years ago. He was a diehard Congressman but now a hardcore BJP choirboy. So much so that anything critical about BJP is immediately censored in his broadsheet. Three decades ago, India wasn't so politicised and polarised as it's today. Nor was the country so touchy about its gods, kings and books. The writer, Usha Gadge, quoted Shivaji Sawant when he said, "It's a story, expanded into a novel. I'm a storyteller and not a historian, not even an amateur historian." Late Usha Gadge repeated the same in a lecture in Poona a few years ago. The point is, Shivaji Sawant's novel 'Chhava' is an exaggerated and romanticised story of a king who couldn't hold a candle to his much more distinguished father, Shivaji. Now when mere stories are turned into religio-political narratives, they wreak havoc as we're witnessing in the case of this useless film 'Chhava'. Cinematic violence always has a greater impact because cinema is a visual medium. When this violence is screened in an intensified manner, the way Sambhaji's torture is depicted for more than 40 minutes, viewers' sympathy gets focused on the victim. The perpetrators become demons. Human nature is paradoxical. We're naturally drawn to violence but at the same time, a violent spectacle perturbs us and also evokes our sympathy. Mirza Ghalib aptly says, "Hai Aadmi Bajaye Khud Ik Mahshar-e- Khayal" (human being himself is a fusion of scattered thoughts). People are flocking to watch the disconcerting savagery in the movie, only to return with the sympathy for the victim (Sambhaji, in this case). The movie was made to stoke the violent streak embedded in all of us and it succeeded. We're living in exceedingly polarised times. Anything even remotely sectarian is enough to make us go berserk. Now, even stories, myths and legends have so much power and potential as to elicit a violent response from all of us. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/current-affairs/chhava-story-novel/d/134894 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism