Tanhaji

About the film

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language epic historical action film directed by Om Raut and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and Ajay Devgn under T-Series Films and Ajay Devgn FFilms. Tracing the life of Maratha warrior Tanaji Malusare, it stars Ajay Devgn as the eponymous lead, Kajol and Saif Ali Khan. It also features Neha Sharma, Sharad Kelkar and Luke Kenny in supporting roles. Set in the 17th century, it revolves around Tanaji's attempts to recapture the Kondhana fortress once it passed on to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb who transfers its control to his trusted guard Udaybhan Singh Rathore. It marks as Devgn's 100th film since joining Bollywood 20 years ago.

The film was originally named Taanaji: The Unsung Warrior but the name was later changed to Tanhaji. The film was launched on 20 July 2017, with Raut making his directorial debut in Bollywood. Raut previously directed Lokmanya: Ek Yug Purush (2015), for which he received acclaim. The film was simultaneously dubbed in Marathi following popular demand. Principal photography commenced on 25 September 2018, and completed within May 2019. Filming took in mostly across the Film City in Mumbai, and few scenes shot at Pune. The cinematography and editing were handled by Keiko Nakahara and Dharmendra Sharma. The background score was composed by Sandeep Shirodkar; the soundtrack album was composed by Ajay–Atul, Sachet–Parampara and Mehul Vyas and released under the label T-Series.

Plot

In 1647, young Tanhaji Malusare is trained in swordsmanship by his father, Kaloji Malusare, who is later killed during a Mughal raid on their village of Umrat. Seventeen years later, in 1664, Tanhaji, now a military commander in the service of Shivaji Maharaj, leads forces alongside his younger brother Suryaji in defeating a Mughal cavalry detachment.

In 1665, the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb dispatches his uncle, the Maharaja of Amber Jai Singh I, to check Shivaji’s territorial expansion in the Deccan Plateau. Following the Battle of Purandar, Shivaji is compelled to cede control of 23 forts to the Mughal Empire, including the strategic Kondhana Fort. Subsequently, the Mughal general Beshak Khan insults Shivaji’s mother, Jijabai, who vows to remain barefoot until Kondhana is recaptured.

By 1670, Shivaji’s spies report Aurangzeb’s plan to place Kondhana under the command of Rajput general Udaybhan Rathod, who will use it as a base for Mughal advances in southern India. Udaybhan is transporting a massive cannon, ‘‘Naagin’’, intended to target Maratha positions. Shivaji formulates a plan to retake Kondhana but withholds the details from Tanhaji, whose son Rayba’s wedding is imminent. During the Holi festival, Tanhaji visits Rajgad Fort to invite Shivaji and Jijabai to the wedding. However, Maratha noble Chandraji Pisal, secretly allied with Udaybhan, informs Tanhaji of the planned campaign in an attempt to draw him into a trap. Tanhaji insists on leading the mission, postponing his son’s wedding despite Shivaji’s initial reluctance.

Production

After completing his work on the directorial venture Shivaay (2016), Ajay Devgn, announced his next film on 29 July 2016, titled Sons of Sardaar: Battle of Saragarhi, a big-budget war film based on the 1897 Saragarhi battle between 21 Sikhs and 10,000 Afghans. Made on a huge scale, Devgn planned to start the production work in late 2016, and decided to release the film on Diwali next year; However, when Karan Johar announced Kesari, another film based on the battle of Saragarhi, Devgn decided to postpone the project after September 2017. In late February 2019, it was reported that Devgn had shelved the project.

Meanwhile, Ajay Devgn, decided to do another period film with Om Raut, based on the life of Maratha warrior Tanaji Malusare, which was titled officially as Taanaji: The Unsung Warrior. The first look of Taanaji was released on 20 July 2017, through Devgn's official Twitter account, and pre-production work commenced the following day. In August 2017, a report from Asian Age, claimed that the film will also be made simultaneously in Marathi language, due to the demand of the story, and also Raut's popularity in Marathi, after the success of Lokmanya: Ek Yug Purush (2015).

A source claimed that the film's pre-production work would go on for 6–8 months, and Ajay Devgn would start the shoot of the film in March 2018. However, the team undertook heavy VFX works for the film for 6–8 months, and Devgn's NY VFXWAALA was brought on board for the film, whereas filmmakers planned to release the film in 3D formats, thus delaying the film's shoot to September 2018. On 2 August 2018, Bhushan Kumar of T-Series, undertook the project in collaboration with Ajay Devgn's production company and planned to start the shoot in end of September. In March 2019, the film's title Taanaji: The Unsung Warrior was changed to Tanhaji, due to numerological reasons.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack album was composed by Ajay–Atul, Sachet–Parampara Mehul Vyas and Prasenjit Kosambi with lyrics written by Swanand Kirkire Anil Verma and Abhijit Kosambi. The background score of the film is composed by Sandeep Shirodkar. The album features four tracks with vocals by Mehul Vyas, Adarsh Shinde, Sukhwinder Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, Sachet Tandon, Parampara Thakur, Ganesh Chandanshive, Harshdeep Kaur and Prasenjit Kosambi. It was released on 20 December 2019 by T-Series. The soundtrack album for the Marathi version had reused the same set of vocals, excluding for some songs, whose vocals were provided by Avadhoot Gupte and Kirti Killedar.

Key details