Riteish Says Genelia Suggested Abhishek For Raja Shivaji: 'I Told Her We Can't Just Go To Him' | Exclusive

Riteish Deshmukh, Genelia Deshmukh and Jyoti Deshpande’s magnum opus, Raja Shivaji, has emerged as one of the highest-grossing films in Marathi cinema. Apart from its scale and grandeur, what has captured the audience’s imagination is its formidable casting including the likes of Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and Vidya Balan.

Speaking exclusively to News18, Riteish reveals he was slightly apprehensive about reaching out to Abhishek to play Sambhaji Shahaji Bhosale, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s elder brother. “Abhishek was the first person I approached. I remember sitting with Genelia when she suggested his name. But I told her, ‘This is a Marathi film and we can’t just go to him.’ She kept saying, ‘Why not?'” he says.

In fact, Abhishek

gave a positive nod to Raja Shivaji even without listening to the script. “Genelia couldn’t think of anybody else to play the part. I called Abhishek up and he told me to go over to this place. I had green tea and I told him that I’m making a film. He said, ‘Great!’ Even before I could finish my sentence and say that I went to him for a role, he said he’s doing it,” Riteish recalls.

“Abhishek didn’t ask anything and he said he would discuss the role later. That’s the kind of love he shared with and showed us,” he adds. Riteish, who marks his second directorial outing with Raja Shivaji after Ved, also shares that it was Genelia, who nudged Riteish to tell the story of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, even though he had some reservations.

“In 2023 after I finished Ved, Genelia told me, ‘Why don’t you direct this film?’ But I wasn’t too sure about it. She then recommended that I at least start writing and see how I feel about it. It was a huge undertaking. I didn’t think I had the strength or the mindset to direct a film like this. She suggested that I spend time with the script,” he tells us.

“The writing took about a year or maybe a little over a year. Eventually, I started feeling confident about the material we were working on,” he adds. On a related note, Raja Shivaji may have released in cinemas this month, but it has been in the making for the past ten years. Two prominent Marathi directors were associated with the script before the baton got passed to Riteish.

Talking about it, he says, “In 2016, this film was announced with Ravi Jadhav, a friend of mine. He was directing it. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out and the plan to make it fizzled out. Three years later, in 2019, Nagaraj Manjule and I joined hands to make this film. We announced it but then Covid happened. A few years went by but nothing happened.”

Raja Shivaji earned close to ₹10 crore on its first day, emerging as the biggest Marathi opener. It has entered the ₹50 crore club within its first week in theatres. As per reports, it became the fourth Marathi film to cross the ₹60 crore mark after Sairat, Ved and Baipan Bhari Deva.