From left: Raj More and the poster of ‘Khalid Ke Shivaji’
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
As the future of Diljit Dosanjh’s searing political-drama, Satluj, remains unknown, another independent Marathi film, Khalid Ke Shivaji, was quietly released on OTT last week, almost a year after its theatrical release was halted. Dipped in ideas of secularism and plurality, the film tells the story of a Muslim boy’s connection with the Maratha warrior king, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the backdrop of his classmates bullying him with the name of Afzal Khan, a Mughal commander who was killed by Shivaji. The film was scheduled to be released in theatres on August 8, 2025 but director Raj More received orders not to do so just a day before on August 7.“The case of our film is different than that of Satluj, which didn’t receive a censor certificate. We received a censor certificate with five cuts, which I had happily accepted,” says Raj, who recounts how the film received a good response when it was screened at Cannes Film Market last year. The problem, however, began when the film’s trailer was unveiled which made certain claims about Shivaji that were criticised by some of his followers. The outrage led to Maharashtra government cancelling the film’s censor certificate. Raj later made changes to some of the historical claims, which included re-dubbing a dialogue where a character talks about the presence of 35 percent Muslims in Shivaji’s army.
