Raja Shivaji Review: Salman Khan's Cameo Is the Most Talked-About Moment

May 1, 2026 on Maharashtra Day, Ritesh Deshmukh-directed Raja Shivaji released in theatres with a vision of Swarajya into a sweeping big-screen experience. From its first frame, the film makes its intention clear: this is not just a retelling of history, but a tribute crafted with pride, scale and deep cultural sentiment.

By the end of the first day, the numbers told a clear story: ₹8.52 crore net. ₹10.05 crore gross. The biggest Day 1 ever for a Marathi film.

For a film that was facing scepticism about whether a Marathi historical drama could cross over to a national Hindi audience, this is a meaningful opening.

What Is the Film About?

Directed and lead by Riteish Deshmukh, the movie tells the story of the early years of Shivaji Bhosale, the Maratha warrior who challenged established empires to establish what he called Hindavi Swarajya.

The film's central conflict is between Shivaji (Riteish) and Afzal Khan (Sanjay Dutt), the commander of Adilshah (Amol Gupte), the ruler of Bijapur. Afzal Khan kills Shivaji's elder brother, Sambhaji Raje Bhosale — played by Abhishek Bachchan. Shivaji's mother, role played by Bhagyashree, tells her son to avenge his brother's death. The rest of the film deals with how Shivaji outmanoeuvres, outwits, and ultimately confronts Afzal Khan.

The screenplay was written by Ajit Wadekar, Sandeep Patil, and Riteish Deshmukh. The story itself is so widely known — this is one of the most documented periods in Indian history — that novelty was never going to be this film's strength. The film knows this. Its strength is execution.

Also Read: Geetu Mohandas Takes on Yash: What Happens When Art Cinema Meets Mass Entertainment

What Worked for the Movie?

Riteish Deshmukh, long associated with comic roles in Bollywood, delivers a career-best performance. Critics who watched the Marathi version have called it restrained, sincere, and physically convincing. He carries the weight of the role without letting it become theatrical.

Santosh Sivan's cinematography is consistently praised in early reviews. The battle sequences have scale and clarity. The production design — credited to Nikhil Kovale, Apurva Bhagat, and Shashank Tere — accurately captures the fort culture and military aesthetics of 17th-century Deccan.

Sanjay Dutt as Afzal Khan is physically imposing and works well as an antagonist. Jitendra Joshi, a familiar face in Marathi cinema, provides solid support as Pant. Abhishek Bachchan's role — while relatively brief — is emotionally significant as the martyred brother who sets the film's central revenge narrative in motion.

Also Read: Michael Jackson Biopic: $217 Million in Its First Weekend, 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Every Controversy You Need to Know

What Didn't Work for the Movie

The film's primary limitation is what it was always going to struggle with: familiarity. This story has been told in multiple Marathi productions, regional films, and was referenced in various forms of popular culture for decades. There's no genuine surprise in how it ends or where it goes. For Maharashtrian audiences, this is catharsis. For audiences outside Maharashtra, the emotional investment is harder to manufacture from scratch.

The Hindi dubbed version faces an additional challenge. Ajay-Atul's music — reportedly excellent in the Marathi version, with its roots in folk and classical tradition — doesn't translate as naturally to a Hindi-speaking audience unfamiliar with that sonic vocabulary. The film's editing has also been flagged as needing to be sharper; some scenes linger past their point.

The advance booking for the Hindi version was described as "underwhelming" compared to the Marathi version, and trade trackers estimated the Hindi opening might end up between ₹2-3 crore net. The Hindi version's opening day was around ₹1.5-2 crore, which confirms that assessment.

Also Read: Sanjay Dutt Announces 'Khalnayak Returns' — 33 Years After the Cult Classic; Check Teaser

Salman Khan's Cameo: The Internet's Favourite Debate

Salman Khan appears in the film as Jiva Mahala — the cloest military aide and bodyguard of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Jiva Mahala is credited with saving Shivaji's life during the famous Pratapgad meeting with Afzal Khan, where he struck down the enemy commander.

Salman's cameo "adds tremendous star value in a brief friendly appearance." Early reviews from audiences in Maharashtra have been enthusiastic. The crowds reportedly erupted when Salman appeared on screen. Outside Maharashtra, reactions on social media are more mixed — some felt the cameo was well-integrated into the narrative, others felt it momentarily distracted from the film's otherwise serious tone.

What's not debatable is the business impact. Salman Khan's name on the poster is a significant reason why the Hindi version got the screens it did and why national media covered the release as extensively as they did. Without that association, Raja Shivaji would have been a strong regional story. With it, it's a national news event.

Also Read: Fenty Beauty Ki Haveli: The Most Indian Thing a Global Brand Has Ever Named an Event

The Numbers and What They Mean

The advance booking alone closed at ₹5.14 crore gross — the largest ever for a Marathi film. The Marathi version contributed ₹4.25 crore gross (₹3.60 crore net) in advance alone. Day 1 gross from India stands at ₹10.05 crore. The previous record holders for Marathi opening day — Sairat and Timepass 2 — each managed around ₹3.60 crore net. Raja Shivaji has blown past that benchmark in advance bookings alone.

The film ran across 4,582 shows on Day 1. For a Marathi-primary film, that's a significant theatrical footprint.

Whether it has legs beyond the first weekend depends on word-of-mouth carrying it past Maharashtra. If it does, this becomes a landmark moment for Marathi cinema's national ambitions. If it doesn't, it still goes down as the biggest Marathi box office opening in history — which, by itself, is no small achievement.