Vasant Joglekar

Shevatcha Malusara

An unusual Marathi war movie which mobilises and updates a historical/regional chauvinism associated with 17th-C. Maratha emperor Shivaji. Major Subhanrao Malusare, a direct descendant of Shivaji’s legendary lieutenant Tanaji Malusare, continues a proud family tradition by winning the Victoria Cross as an Allied officer fighting against Italian fascists in WW2. When he dies, his wife Savitri (Uma) vows that their son will never join the army. However, during the India-China conflict (1962), when her son’s friend is killed, she enjoins her son to fight for the nation even though the boy’s death would mean the end of the ancient clan. The film updated the rousing sentimentalism associated with Shivaji historicals into the present via songs such as He bharatiyano aika balidan katha veeranchi.