Rishab Shetty to play Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Sandeep Singh’s ‘epic saga of the pride of Bharat’

Rishab Shetty unveils his first look as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj from Sandeep Singh’s historical epic, reveals film’s release date.

After unveiling his look for the sequel to Hanu-Man, Rishab Shetty has once again surprised the audience with his first look from Sandeep Singh’s historical epic, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The National Award-winning actor has been introduced as Shivaji Maharaj in the first poster.

(Also Read: Kantara Chapter 1 first look teaser: Rishab Shetty holds trident in bloody new look. Watch)

Rishab Shetty first look as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
Rishab Shetty took to X (formerly Twitter) and shared the first look poster of his upcoming film, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and captioned the post, “Our Honour & Privilege, Presenting the Epic Saga of India’s Greatest Warrior King – The Pride of Bharat: #ChhatrapatiShivajiMaharaj. #ThePrideOfBharatChhatrapatiShivajiMaharaj. This isn’t just a film – it’s a battle cry to honor a warrior who fought against all odds, challenged the might of the Mighty Mughal empire, and forged a legacy that can never be forgotten.”

He further revealed in his post that the film will release in theatres in January, 2027 and wrote, “Get ready for a Magnum Opus Action Drama, a cinematic experience unlike any other, as we unfold the untold story of #ChhatrapatiShivajiMaharaj. Global Release on 21st January 2027.”

Fans showered love on the Kantara actor. One of the comments read, “This man is on a mission to make Sandalwood industry proud.” Another user wrote “Wow this could be epic !!” Another fan commented, “Hanuman movie, Shivaji biopic leading pan-India name from KFI right now, ATB Shetre (salute emoji).”

The film will be directed by Sandeep Singh who is best known for backing several acclaimed films including Priyanka Chopra-starrer Mary Kom, Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Jhund. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will thus mark Sandeep Singh’s theatrical directorial debut.

Rishab Shetty upcoming films
Rishab Shetty is currently working on the prequel of his blockbuster Kantara. Titled, Kantara: Chapter 1, the film is slated to release in theatres on October 2, 2025. The film is being backed by Hombale Films and will be released in English, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. Apar from this, Rishabh Shetty will also be seen headlining Prasanth Varma’s Hanu-Man sequel wherein he will be playing the role of Hindu deity, Lord Hanuman.

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Ding snatches draw from jaws of defeat

Gukesh has Ding on the ropes for most of Game 7 but the world champion digs deep to escape with scores level at halfway

Bengaluru: After a quiet game in his previous turn with the White, Gukesh arrived for Game 7, armed and ready to spill blood on the board. He drove daggers through Ding Liren and nearly mummified him before the reigning world champion returned from the dead with some stellar endgame defence to force a draw. The spectators’ arena broke into a rapturous applause as the players shook hands after a game that lasted 72 moves and over five hours. It’s the longest game played so far in this World Championship match and the contest remains tied at 3.5-3.5, with seven more classical games remaining.

It mustn’t be easy for Gukesh to reconcile with a setback like this, having had his opponent on the ropes through the greater part of the game. “It’s never pleasant to miss a winning position but I’m happy that I could outplay my opponent quite easily in the opening,” said Gukesh in the press conference that followed, “It’s a missed chance but he also missed some chances earlier in the match… but quite a few positives to take away from it. I guess the biggest lesson is to stay focused and convert good positions.”

The Indian teen won the opening battle on trotting out 1.Nf3 for the first time in this match and went on to uncork a rare, ingenious 7.Re1 move that was clearly cooked up by his team. It cast Ding right away into contemplation for over 20 minutes. “Re1 is a relatively new move and the point was to go dxc4-e4 and get a new position on the board… he didn’t react in a very precise way so I guess the idea worked,” Gukesh said.

Ding later admitted that he was completely thrown off by the move. “I came back from the toilet and was totally shocked,” he said. “I took a lot of time to come up with a reply. Even then it wasn’t accurate.” The world champion ended up responding with the principled 7. dxc4 which led to a fascinating fight for the centre. Ding was soon down to 24 minutes on the clock by move 21.

Gukesh went on to make the strategic mistake of rushing to trade the dark-squared bishops, and then went after Black’s c4 pawn. Here he perhaps overlooked Ding’s resource of springing his knight back into the game. Ding defended bravely and even looked like he might make it over the line alive, with a draw. All he had to do was manoeuvre his knight, hit move 41 and then figure out the rest. But nerves can make players do the inexplicable things. With the clock ticking down to its dying seconds on move 40, Ding blundered. Seven seconds on his clock, he pushed his King to the e5 square instead of galloping his knight to c8 – which would have kept his drawing chances intact. Leela Chess Zero right away pegged Gukesh’s chances for a win at 75 percent, from roughly 19 percent.

After the players reached time control, Ding was on the ropes. Down a pawn, with a weak king on d5 in an objectively lost endgame, he was again back burning through his clock, shaking his head, occasionally looking up at his opponent and trying to pick out the right move out of twenty-odd tempting, false continuations. Gukesh sat at the other end, hands folded across his chest, watching the reigning world champion suffer. Around move 44, Leela gave Gukesh 92 per cent chance of winning the game.

But after spending over 22 minutes trawling through defensive resources, Ding had a few answers. “I was fearing that I was getting outplayed,” Ding said, “But my position was maybe not so bad, I should be more confident of my position.”

Gukesh’s decision to go Bd1 on move 46 allowed Ding to stir up activity. It’s here that Ding brought his endgame skills and resilience to bear – not faltering, even though Gukesh found ways to keep the game going.

Ding’s idea was to restrict White’s bishop and drum up counterplay for his knight. Black’s knight was centralised, King was activated while White’s bishop was on the first rank. Ding went on to trade off the rooks and got rid of White’s final pawn to make a miraculous escape and take a half a point for his efforts. Ding’s team heaved a sigh of relief. “Today I did not give up in a very difficult position… My second (Ni Hua) said I saved my life,” Ding told Chess.com. In the end it was brilliant preparation from Gukesh, outplaying his opponent thoroughly before the reigning world champion dug deep and summoned a fightback. Gukesh was not quite able to see through his opponent’s resources in the endgame.

The match moves to Game 8 on Wednesday and Ding will have the White pieces. It’s possible he might want to play a solid, quiet game and we could see the fireworks back again for Gukesh’s game with the White pieces on Thursday.

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Neha Bhasin lashes out at ‘below-average male rappers’ for offensive lyrics on women: Is there a limit to the hypocrisy?

Neha Bhasin called out the sexism in the music industry in a new post on her Instagram. The singer said that even the audience are normalizing the lines.

Singer Neha Bhasin did not mince words in her new Instagram post, slamming below-average male rappers and audiences for normalising offensive lyrics. The singer said that not only are these male rappers continuing to pen these songs, but even the audience are complicit in being okay with it. (Also read: Anurag Kashyap’s daughter Aaliyah Kashyap and Shane Gregoire kick off wedding prep; Khushi Kapoor offers sneak peek)

Neha Bhasin calls out sexism in music industry
Neha took to her Instagram on Wednesday morning and wrote a statement that read: “Am so fed up of below average male rappers and wanna be singers calling women weird stuff in their songs. And all Indian men and women folks are OK WITH IT. Is there a limit to the hypocrisy in India? Ladka kare to bhai, dude. Ladki kare toh character dheela (If men do it they are called a dude, but if the women does the same, she is called loose character).”

‘I am certainly not a banta ki bottle’
The singer did not take any names of singers or male rappers in the post. In the caption, she wrote: “I don’t have a cage i want to open. I am not doodh malai and I am certainly not a banta ki bottle. Grow the F up already.”

Reacting to the post, when a user commented, “Tumhara character dheela hi hai (You are character dheela).” She schooled the user and replied, “all mediocre frustrated people feel that way.”

Neha Bhasin has worked with several well-known music directors in the industry and sung songs like Asalaam-e-Ishquum from Gunday, Dhunki from Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Swag se Swagat from Tiger Zinda Hai among others.

The singer often takes to her Instagram to share updates about her health and spread awareness. She had earlier shared that she had Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a severe form of PMS, from her teenage years.

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