During 18th century India, the Marathas emerged as the most powerful empire in the nation until the Afghan King Ahmad Shah Abdali plans to take over India. Sadashiv Rao Bhau is brought in to save the empire from the king which then leads to the third battle of Panipat.
Production
Gowariker's obsession with scale — thousands of extras, practical chaos.
Costume
Sanjay Dutt's Abdali looks like a metalcore album cover come to life.
Director
Ashutosh Gowariker
Arjun Kapoor
Sadashiv Rao Bhau
Kriti Sanon
Parvatibai
Sanjay Dutt
Ahmad Shah Abdali
Mohnish Behl
Balaji Baji Rao (Nana Saheb)
Mohan Joshi
Malhar Rao Holkar
Nawab Shah
Ibrahim Khan Gardi
Padmini Kolhapure
Gopika Bai
Arun Bali
Ala Singh
Suhasini Mulay
Radhabai
Gashmeer Mahajani
Jankoji Shinde
Milind Gunaji
Dattaji Shinde
Mir Sarwar
Imad-ul-Mulk
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Gowariker filmed near actual Panipat with 500+ horses; some battle formations took six hours to set up per shot.
The film sparked controversy with Peshwa descendant protests and Rajasthani anger over Suraj Mal's portrayal as 'greedy' rather than strategically cautious.
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