Sandeep Singh to helm Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj biopic

Filmmaker Sandeep Singh is all set to direct The Pride of Bharat - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a biopic of 17th-century Indian ruler Shivaji Bhonsle, reported Variety.

Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India, Nitin Gadkari unveiled the poster and launched the film on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Singh has produced several acclaimed films including Mary Kom, Aligarh, and Jhund. He made his directorial debut with the transgender-themed Safed. The Shivaji biopic will be his first theatrical feature film as director.

Shivaji (1630-1680), who hailed from the Hindu religion, founded the Maratha empire when most of India was under the rule of Muslim monarchs, winning his territories using a mixture of military moves and strategic nous. At a time when the Moghul emperor Aurangzeb was persecuting Hindus, the community rallied by Shivaji, who was crowned as Chhatrapati (monarch). During India's independence movement, Shivaji was held in high esteem as a Hindu nationalist hero, a position he enjoys to this day, as per Variety.

A top team has been assembled for the film, including writing team Siddharth-Garima (Toilet: A Love Story), DoP Aseem Bajaj (Sacred Games), choreographer Ganesh Hegde (Phone Bhoot), costume designer Sheetal Sharma (Gangubai Kathiawadi), production designer Sandeep Sharad Ravade (Ghoomer), with casting by Kavish Sinha (Rocket Boys). The cast has not been revealed yet, as per Variety.

"As my guru is Sanjay Leela Bhansali whose films have always been grandiose, I used to be in a confused state of mind as to how do I make my Bollywood debut as a director. I kept looking for an intriguing subject after 'Bajirao Mastani,' but I wasn't getting the right one for my directorial debut and thus continued producing films. Till finally, I found the fascinating story of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. I started researching on Shivaji Maharaj's life and came across some huge surprises and decided that this was it," Singh told Variety. "This subject is that I wanted to make my debut as a director within Bollywood. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had a personality that was larger than life. His real-life story goes beyond fictional imagination. People, especially the youth, know Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as the brave Maratha warrior. But don't know the intricacies of his intelligent and sharp mind and the qualities that made him so great. He was the actual warrior of Bharat [India]. I strongly felt that his story must be told and am boldly going ahead with it."

"It's taken me 23 years of hard struggle to build and create a position to debut as a director for my first mega-budget film The Pride of Bharat - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. There could be nothing better than this. I have been working on the script since 2019, five years of labour and love. I hope our audience will appreciate our film and the efforts invested in it," Singh added.

The Pride of Bharat - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will release on January 23, 2026.