‘Raja Shivaji’ continues his strong run at the box office, director and lead actor Riteish Deshmukh has fueled the debate surrounding the film’s rumored budget of Rs 100 crore. He asked the audience and the industry to return their attention to cinema.
Riteish Deshmukh tackles budget rumors surrounding ‘Raja Shivaji’
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Riteish was candid about the budget speculation surrounding the film. He said, “Regarding the figures floating around about Raja Shivaji’s budget, only the producers know the real budget. The last thing we filmmakers need to do is discuss the budget of a film, because it doesn’t affect anything.”Riteish went further and questioned why budget has become such a dominant conversation in today’s film culture. He added, “Budget se kya lena dena hai? If someone asks me about budget, I ask them, ‘How much do you pay to see a ticket?’ They say ‘Rs 100’ or ‘Rs 250-300’; I replied that it is a budget. We must stop talking about it. Let it be magical; go see the movie.”
Riteish Deshmukh says numbers shouldn’t be the focus
Starting from his childhood, Riteish Deshmukh remembered what it really meant to watch a film on the big screen. He recalled, “When I used to go to watch Amitabh Bachchan ji’s films like ‘Sholay’ in my childhood, I would never think ‘Iska budget kya hai?’ I wanted it to be big screen entertainment.” The actor insisted that surprise, not numbers, should define the moviegoing experience.
Riteish Deshmukh feels Bollywood has played a major role in normalizing the obsession with numbers
Riteish also turned the lens on the industry itself, admitting that Bollywood has played a role in normalizing this obsession. “We would never know how many films have grossed. Unfortunately, that’s the game today. People ask how much actors get paid for films… it’s our fault; we feed these numbers. Those who feel this is right, that’s fine. We have made seven films in Marathi so far; we have never disclosed the budget of our films,” he stated.
More about ‘Raja Shivaji’
‘Raja Shivaji’, made simultaneously in Marathi and Hindi, is the most expensive Marathi film ever produced and is based on his life. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The film stars Genelia Deshmukh, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Sanjay Dutt and many others in pivotal roles.The film opened in theaters on May 1, 2026.
