Vicky Kaushal in CHHAAVA - fastest period drama Rs. 100 crore grosser

CHHAAVA, the latest Bollywood period drama, is breaking the box office! The Vicky Kaushal starrer CHHAAVA has become the fastest period drama ever to gross Rupees 100 crores or US $ 11.5 million in just three days. CHHAAVA film is being rated as the first blockbuster Bollywood movie of 2025. It has invoked deep Indian emotions of nationalism, patriotism and fervour for the Independence struggle. Even Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised CHHAAVA saying 'In dino to Chhaava ki dhoom machi hui hai’. The film released on 14th February 2025 was well timed with Mahakumbh, the biggest Hindu festival in recent history. With Maha Shivratri on 26 February, circumstances seem also to drive people to the cinema to watch the movie with huge rants of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ by the principal character of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj in the film, played by Vicky Kaushal. Sambhaji was the second Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire and the son of the revered Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the most valiant of Maratha fighters who played havoc with the then Mughal rulers of India.

The success of CHHAAVA was evident in the snippets playing on huge video screens that adorn Times Square in New York City. The film is rising Bollywood star Vicky Kaushal’s third-highest-grosser. It has left behind recent historic dramas like ‘Sam Bahadur’ and commentators expect it to surpass ‘Raazi’. CHHAAVA has also done better than Deepika Padukone’s 2018 film, Padmaavat, that collected Rupees 100 crores in revenues in four days.

CHHAAVA is directed by Laxman Utekar. In the lead are stars Vicky Kaushal and Rashmika Mandanna. The film is an adaptation of the Marathi novel Chhava (1979), written by Shivaji Sawant. Dinesh Vijan’s Maddock Films has produced the film. CHHAAVA’s production budget was approximately Rs 130 crore. For female Bollywood star Mandanna it is her fourth consecutive theatrical hit after Varisu (2023), Animal (2023), and Pushpa 2: The Rule (2024).

That CHHAAVA could keep breaking the box office was evident in the film’s collection of Monday 17th February being nearly double the combined earnings of recent 6 Bollywood hits like Sky Force, Deva, Emergency, Azaad, Badass Ravikumar and Loveyapa.