Raja Shivaji Beats Ved To Become Riteish Deshmukh's Highest Grossing Directorial

Riteish Deshmukh's directorial stint is proving to be very successful. He has now back-to-back hits to his credit as a director. Ved (2022), a romantic drama, emerged as a superhit. Raja Shivaji, based on the life and times of legendary Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, became the fastest Marathi film to hit ₹50 crore mark in India. In its second week, the historical drama continued its good run. It has now also surpassed the collections of Ved to become Riteish's highest grossing film as a director.

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Raja Shivaji witnesses boost at box office in 2nd weekend

By its 2nd Friday and Saturday, Raja Shivaji has already minted nearly ₹9 crore. Sunday collections are expected to be higher still and may push the 2nd weekend biz to over ₹13 crore mark. In nine days, Raja Shivaji's biz stands at ₹61.45 crore. Ved minted ₹61.20 crore, but it only released in Marathi, unlike Raja Shivaji, whose major box office contributor has been the Hindi version. The Marathi version leads India collections with ₹43 crore, while Hindi dubbed version follows with ₹18 crore.

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The film boasts an ensemble cast, including Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Bhagyashree and Genelia Deshmukh in key roles. It also features Mahesh Manjrekar, Sachin Khedekar, Fardeen Khan, Jitendra Joshi and Amole Gupte. Salman Khan also features in a pivotal cameo.

In Raja Shivaji, many actors worked for free

Riteish Deshmukh revealed he spent 3.5 years writing Raja Shivaji. He said many actors worked without fees to support the film, which received a strong audience response at the box office. Abhishek, who features as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and Salman Khan, who essays Jiva Mahale in Raja Shivaji, reportedly did the movie without charging a single penny.