Riteish Deshmukh’s latest Marathi film, Raja Shivaji, broke box office records as it entered the ₹100 crore club. Apart from Riteish playing the lead role of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha Empire, Bhagyashree also had a pivotal role in the film — she played the role of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s warrior mother, Rajmata Jijabai. Without Jijabai’s contribution, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s story remains incomplete, which is why Bhagyashree’s role in the film was extremely significant.
Bhagyashree on playing Riteish’s mother
However, many fans questioned the Maine Pyar Kiya actor playing the role of Riteish’s mother in the film despite being 10 years younger than him. In a recent interaction with Zoom, Bhagyashree opened up about the same. She said, “When you get to play a role that you have grown up hearing stories about, there is no question to say no. Besides, Jijau was a young mother. In fact, Santosh Sivan sir called me up to say, ‘Sorry, I had to make you look older with camera work, still look so youthful’. Now that is a compliment I will hold close to my heart. After all, he is the maestro cinematographer, Santosh Sivan.”
For the uninitiated, just like Jijabai, Bhagyashree also belongs to the Patwardhan royal family of Sangli in Maharashtra. The actor’s father, Vijay Singhrao Madhavrao Patwardhan, is the titular king of Sangli. Talking about how Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s story was introduced to her during childhood, she said, “Shivaji Maharaj’s stories were told to us, probably even before the tales of Goldilocks, Hansel and Gretel, etc. Children built sandcastles on the beach, we used to build Shivaji’s killa with mud and clay.”
About Raja Shivaji
Raja Shivaji is co-written and directed by Riteish Deshmukh. The film was produced by Genelia Deshmukh and Jyoti Deshpande under Mumbai Film Company and Jio Studios. The film also starred Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Mahesh Manjrekar, Sachin Khedekar, Bhagyashree, Fardeen Khan, Jitendra Joshi, Amole Gupte and Genelia Deshmukh in pivotal roles.
About Bhagyashree
Bhagyashree made her Hindi film debut with the 1989 blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya, opposite Salman Khan. It remains her most successful film to date. She then married Himalaya Dassani in 1990 and acted in three films opposite him. After taking a brief break from films following her marriage, she returned to Hindi cinema in the mid-2000s with projects like Maa Santoshi Maa (2003), Humko Deewana Kar Gaye (2006) and Red Alert: The War Within (2010). Before Raja Shivaji, she was seen in Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video.
