New Delhi: Khalid Ke Shivaji director Raj Pritam More says he “regrets” that his film couldn’t reach theatres or Netflix, but insists he doesn’t consider himself “defeated.”
The Marathi film was released in August last year and bombed at the box office.
“The film deserved dignity. So when we won this year-long battle with censorship, we put it out on YouTube but on rent. We haven’t made any money yet, and we have spent around Rs 2 crore on this project,” More told ThePrint.
More’s journey with Khalid Ke Shivaji has a similarity to director Honey Trehan’s experience with Satluj. The Marathi filmmaker said he watched the Diljit Dosanjh-starrer and found nothing objectionable in it.
“The violence was so cinematically depicted, it wasn’t brutal as compared to what was showcased in Dhurandhar,” he said, drawing a comparison between the protagonists of both films, Khalid, a young school student and Jaswant Singh Khalra.
“They both embody truthfulness and are unafraid. They don’t fear asking the right questions. That’s why we need both these characters to be heard today but the time we live in, it’s unlikely to happen,” More added.
Also Read: Diljit Dosanjh charged just Rs 1 for Satluj to play Jaswant Khalra
Standing ovation at Cannes, ban in India
Khalid Ke Shivaji, which premiered at Cannes’ Marché du Film last year, narrates the story of a Muslim boy, Khalid, who forms a deep connection with the Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Even though his classmates taunt him by calling him Afzal Khan, the Bijapur Sultanate commander killed by Shivaji, his admiration for the Maratha warrior doesn’t waver.
More says he pitched the script door to door, but no one was willing to back it. The response he kept hearing was some version of “this isn’t the right time to make this film. It won’t take off.”
It took a year and a half before Tamil-born American producer Michael Thevar, along with producer Sushma Ganvir, showed interest, finally getting the project on the floor.
“This film was possible because of them. Had they not shown faith in my story, Khalid Ka Shivaji would have been just a script,” the filmmaker said.
The film was shot in More’s hometown, Akola, and 95 per cent of the cast were locals. The film’s young protagonist, Khalid, was played by More’s son Krish.
The film was set to release across 150 theatres in Maharashtra, but a day before its scheduled release on 8 August 2025, an order from the Information & Broadcasting Ministry forced More to halt it.
“My film got a standing ovation at Cannes. We were excited about its India release because I had a conviction that the story deserved a national award. But, as soon as the trailer was released, Hindu Mahasabha and Brahmin Mahasabha, they spread a word that we are saying wrong things about Shivaji,” More said, adding that the film had already cleared censorship with a CBFC certificate.
Since the state cannot override CBFC decisions directly, objectors approached the I&B Ministry instead. The ministry invoked the Cinematograph Act of 1952 to have the film suspended. More took the matter to the High Court and arranged a special screening for a ministry committee as well.
“We were actually the first Marathi film in 40-50 years to go to the I&B ministry,” the filmmaker said with a chuckle. “Then we again went to CBFC and got clearance again without a single cut. But there were some minor changes like the title went from ‘Khalid Ka Shivaji’ to ‘Khalid Ke Shivaji’.”
By then, the damage was done. Fear around the film had already spread. Distributors refused to touch it as they feared backlash.
“Many didn’t even watch the film, the title was enough to scare them off. ‘Khalid Ke Shivaji’ How can a Muslim name and Shivaji be written in the same line?” More recalled.
However, the filmmaker refuses to label himself or his team defeated.
“The film has reached its audience. Of course it’s a dream of every filmmaker to watch his film in theatres but it’s okay. I am happy that our effort has reached people in some way or the other,” he added.
Khalid Ke Shivaji can be rented on YouTube for Rs 25.
(Edited by Stela Dey)