Chhaava

What’s it about?

Maratha military king Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, ascends the Maratha throne. Whilst trying to prevent chaos within his family, he challenges the brutal Mughal empire.

The facts

• Directed by Laxman Utekar
• Starring Rashmika Mandanna, Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Vineet Kumar Singh, Diana Penty, Divya Dutta, and Pradeep Singh Rawat
• Hindi language
• Runtime: 161 minutes
• Based on the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj

Why did it get this rating?

This film game was cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body. You can find out more about cross-rating here.

Violence and cruelty

This film contains frequent battle violence scenes, where characters are stabbed, impaled, burned, shot with arrows, and killed.

Much of the violence that takes place involves cruelty, including to women and children. When characters are attacked, there are often squelching sounds from blood and tissue being ripped apart, which may shock some viewers.

Some of the strongest violence and cruelty include:

• A man is tortured for a prolonged period, where his tongue and fingernail are seen ripped out covered in blood, in close-up. We also hear his eyes being gouged with hot metal rods. Though the squelching sounds may disturb some, the victim resists the pain and does not show that he is suffering.
• Early in the film, a man’s face is sliced by a sword, with his jaw crushed and blood spilling out in slow-motion.
• A small group of prisoners are chained to a wall as an elephant is about to stand on them and crush them. We do not see it happen, but their deaths are implied.
• A tree is seen with more than fifteen bodies hanging dead from its branches. After this scene, there is also a shot of a river filled with dead children floating in it, with bloodied water.
• Innocent women are seen in cages, whipped, and one is seen taken into a tent by a man, before we see his shadow get on top of her before the scene cuts away.

When content stays with you:

We all have our boundaries, and it’s completely okay if something you’ve watched is weighing on your mind. If certain content lingers with you, consider having a chat with friends or whānau to debrief about what you’ve just seen. But if you’re still feeling affected, please reach out to any of the following helplines for support.

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Brain development – how it works, why it matters