Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language biographical period action film starring Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan and Kajol. It is directed by Om Raut and produced by Ajay Devgn, Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar. Set in the 17th century, the story revolves around the life of Tanaji Malusare, depicting his attempts to recapture the Kondhana fortress once it passes on to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb who transfers its control to his trusted guard Udaybhan Singh Rathore.
Principal photography commenced on 25 September 2018, and the film was released in India in 3D and conventional theatres on 10 January 2020. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the action sequences, cinematography, performances, and visual effects, but criticised it for its predictability, nationalism, religious bias and historical inaccuracies. Tanhaji has grossed ₹367.58 crore (US$52 million) worldwide.
Contents
1Plot
2Cast
3Production
4Marketing and release
5Reception
5.1Critical response
6Soundtrack
7Box office
8References
9External links
Plot
The film begins with the opening scene of India, also called “Sone ki chidiya” (the golden bird). However, this golden bird was destroyed due to several invasions.
The introduction follows up with a young Tanhaji Malusare learning sword fight under his father. After winning a sword fight and a duel between his father, the plot thickens.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has escaped from the house arrest of Mughals had to hand over his precious forts to Aurangzeb. Kondhana (Singhad) is included too. Aurangzeb thus appoints Udaybhan Singh Rathod, a Rajput, to be the Killedar or fort keeper of Kondhana with the intention of making Kondhana the capital of the South. Shivaji Maharaj prepares to take back Kondhana, Tanhaji Malusare, unaware of the situation comes to Rajgad to invite the Maharaj for his son’s – Raiba’s – wedding. He eventually finds out due to the treacherous intentions of fellow ministers in the Maharaj’s council and decides that Kondhana is more important than his son’s wedding.
After thorough planning, Tanhaji Malusare decides to attack Udaybhan before he can reach Kondhana. The attempt fails and Udaybhan along with Naagin, a fictional long canon, reaches Kondhana. Thus begins Tanhaji Malusare’s actual battle of reconnaissance of the Kondhana fort, it’s secret doors and the actual war. After taking 300 mavalas with him, he climbs the Kondhana fort and Suryaji Malusare (brother of Tanhaji Malusare) and Shelar Mama (uncle of Tanhaji Malusare) along with 400 mavalas waits at the Kalyan Darwaza. A group of Marathas opens the Kalyan Darwaza and the Marathas rush into the fort. Tanhaji Malusare and the mavalas enter through the Pune Darwaza by sheer bravery and battle begins with Udaybhan singlehandedly destroying the Marathas. After the battle and exhilarating background music, the duel between Udaybhan and Tanhaji starts. While Tanhaji Malusare cuts the fire to the Naagin canon in mid-air, Udaybhan cuts his fore-arm. After wrapping his turban around his fore-arm he pushes Udaybhan along with Naagin down the fort. Shivaji Maharaj rushes onto Kondhana and Tanhaji dies in his presence.
The movie ends with Tanhaji Malusare’s wife welcoming him in bridal attire, as she had promised him that she would grant any of his wishes if he won Kondhana and his wish was for her to come to him dressed up as a bride.
Cast
Ajay Devgn as Tanaji Malusare
Saif Ali Khan as Udaybhan Singh Rathore
Kajol as Savitribai Malusare
Sharad Kelkar as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
Luke Kenny as Aurangzeb
Vipul Gupta as Jagat Singh
Padmavati Rao as Rajmata Jijabai
Shashank Shende as Shelaar Mama
Devdatta Nage as Suryaji Malusare
Neha Sharma as Kamla Devi
Ajinkya Deo as Chandraji Pisal
Yuri Suri as Mirza Raje Jai Singh
Jagannath Nivangune as Kaloji Malusare
Trisha Patil as Parvatibai “Parvati” Malusare
Hardik Sangani as Gondya
Nissar Khan as Beshak Khan
Prasanna Ketkar as Sarnaik
Kailash Waghmare as Chultiya
Harsh Sharma as Young Tanhaji
Ranav Sharma as Young Suryaji
Arush Nand as Raiba Malusare
Dhairyasheel Gholap as Shrubhau
Nilesh Lalwani as Tatya
Pramod More as Leader of Gondia
Bhagyashree Nhalve as Suryaji’s wife
Devendra Gaikwad as Raiba’s father-in-law
Rajesh Ahir as Raja Sangram Singh
Production
Pre-production began on 20 July 2017. Principal photography commenced from 25 September 2018.
Marketing and release
Earlier marketed as Taanaji: The Unsung Warrior, it was revealed on Twitter by Ajay Devgn that the film will be known as Tanhaji. In December 2017, the release date of Tanhaji was revealed as 22 November 2019 but was postponed to December 2019 due to shooting problems. On 1 January 2019, director Om Raut released the first-look image. The official posters of the film were released throughout November 2019.
On 19 November, official trailer of the film was launched by T-Series. On 16 December, T-Series launched the second official trailer of the film. Amar Chitra Katha released the film edition comic book in 2019.
The film was theatrically released in 3D and conventional cinemas on 10 January 2020. The Akhil Bhartiya Kshatriya Koli Rajput Sangh has filed a petition in Delhi High Court. claiming that Om Raut, the director of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior has concealed the true lineage of the great warrior Tanaji Malusare in the movie.
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Tanhaji has an approval of 70% with an average rating of 8.2/10 based on ten reviews.
Anupama Chopra of FilmCompanion noted it to be an un-nuanced retelling of history right out of Amar Chitra Katha comics, that blended historical spectacles, nationalism, and hyper-masculinity. The storytelling, soundtracks, costumes, and individual performances were specifically praised. Rahul Desai noted it to be a slick work which was but marred by an extensive saffronisation which sought to exploit the political climate in India.
A review over The Hindustan Times noted it to be a magnificent work, which had exceptional individual performances, a captivating story-line and excellent video-effects. Namrata Joshi of The Hindu noted of the film to have started off well, before floundering in the middle but regaining brilliance at the end, delivering a catharsis and adrenaline rush. Uday Bhatia of The Mint noted it to be a silly cartoon history, which borrowed its physics from Prince of Persia but nonetheless consisted of fluent actions and interesting individual performances.
Poulomi Das over Arre noted Tanhaji to be a funnily hyper nationalistic action thriller, that purveyed a uni-dimensional revisionist history and sophisticated Islamophobia. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV noted it to be a historically inauthentic work that ironed out any and all nuances in its portrayal of a saffronized Hindu-Muslim binary; however, he noted the overall production to be crisp and backed by powerful individual performances. Tanul Thakur of The Wire noted it to be a work that had excellent cinematography but was intensely buoyed down by its ahistorical religio-nationalist propaganda, catering to the overall saffronisation of India.
Shubhra Gupta over Indian Express noted it to offer a “simplistic, dressed-up slice of the past” that painted hyperbolic tales of Maratha bravery with a Hindu fervor. Sukanya Verma of Rediff noted it to be a mythical retelling of history with a bout of saffron fervor; individual performances and choreography of combat sequences were praised. Rajeev Masand noted it to be a dubiously stereotyped fictional work, which appealed to the hyper-nationalistic climate but had robust filmography, visceral battle scenes, and superb individual performances. Stutee Ghosh of The Quint noted it to be a visually stunning film with strong individual performances, despite its broad liberties with historical accuracy and problematic prejudices.
Soundtrack
Tanhaji
Soundtrack album by
Ajay-Atul, Sachet-Parampara and Mehul Vyas
Released 08-Jan-20
Recorded 2018-19
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Length 16:25
Language Hindi
Label T-Series
External audio
Official Audio Jukebox on YouTube
The film’s music was composed by Ajay-Atul, Sachet-Parampara and Mehul Vyas with lyrics written by Swanand Kirkire and Anil Verma.
Track listing
No. Title Lyrics Music Singer(s) Length
1 “Shankara Re Shankara” Anil Verma Mehul Vyas Mehul Vyas 03:31
2 “Maay Bhavani” Swanand Kirkire Ajay-Atul Sukhwinder Singh & Shreya Ghoshal 04:18
3 “Ghamand Kar” Anil Verma Sachet–Parampara Sachet Tandon & Parampara Thakur 04:42
4 “Tinak Tinak” Anil Verma Sachet–Parampara Harshdeep Kaur 03:54
Total length: 16:25
Box office
Tanhaji earned ₹15.10 crore at the domestic box office on its opening day. On the second day, the film collected ₹20.57 crore. On the third day, the film collected ₹26.26 crore, taking total opening weekend collection to ₹61.93 crore.
As of 13 March 2020, with a gross of ₹332.73 crore in India and ₹34.85 crore overseas, the film has a worldwide gross collection of ₹367.58 crore and became the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2020.