Tanaji Malusare was a military assistant of Maratha ruler Shivaji. A local poet Tulsidas, wrote a powada describing Tanaji’s heroics and sacrifice of life in the Battle of Sinhagad, which has since made him a popular figure in Marathi folklore. He came from a Hindu Koli family.
In popular culture
- Hindutva Ideologue V.D. Savarkar had written a ballad on him, which was banned by the colonial British government.
- Gad ala pan sinh gela, a Marathi novel by Hari Narayan Apte was written in 1903, based on his life.
- Sinhagad, a 1933 Marathi film was produced by Baburao Painter, based on the 1903 novel.
- Bollywood actor-producer Ajay Devgn has produced and headlined a film based on his life titled Tanhaji, which was released on 10 January 2020.
Tanaji’s makes a vow in front of Shivaji and Jijabai before the campaign for Kondana fort..
- Bengali writer Saradindu Bandyopadhyay wrote the Sadashib series where the younger version of Tanaji was mentioned as a close associate of Shivaji.
- In 1971 Amar Chitra Katha released a comic book called Tanaji, written by Meena Talim and illustrated by Vasant B. Halbe.
- In the 2018 Marathi-language epic Farzand, Tanaji Malusare is portrayed by Ganesh Yadav.