Who owns Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj? There’s one segment that’s irked that a Congress loyalist has nabbed their icon to tell his story cinematically.

The late chief minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, was a staunch Congressman till his last breath. And even if his son Riteish Deshmukh isn’t a career politician, you can’t take the Congress out of him. But does that mean he cannot produce and direct a film on Shivaji? Yes, in all the stories handed down the years, it was always believed that Shivaji had whipped out his wagh nakh — tiger’s claw — to kill Afzal Khan. So, when Riteish’s promo of Raja Shivaji showed him display his weapon and declare that he’d come prepared to kill Afzal, it ran against what had thus far been narrated.

But how can you judge a film going by only one scene in the trailer? Besides, Sanjay Dutt, who plays the Moghul, made it a point to announce that he was “nothing like Afzal Khan” in real life. Which means, Afzal will be portrayed in his cruel avatar and Riteish, a proud Maharashtrian, will tell a substantial story of Maratha valour. But sceptics who believe that Shivaji is not a

Congress man’s territory will be watching Riteish’s film with a microscope. And comparisons will be made with last year’s Chhaava (on Shivaji’s son Sambhaji), which had the stamp of approval from the saffron side.

Chhaava had scored poorly in the music department with many remarking that sons of Maharashtra — like siblings Ajay and Atul — should have been on board instead of A.R. Rahman.

Rahman had got so much flak for composing Moghul-sounding music that Atul chuckled, “Chhaava was the first film where we got so much publicity for not scoring the music.”

Ajay-Atul stepped into Raja Shivaji 10 years ago. Riteish changed directors and writers twice before he took on the direction and began to write it afresh. But Ajay-Atul remained constant. At the trailer launch of Raja Shivaji, a bilingual made on a scale unknown to

Marathi cinema, the unmistakable flavour of Maharashtra prevailed. Riteish chose the presentable young Marathi actor Abhijeet Khandkekar to compere the event while spouse Genelia, playing Shivaji’s wife, carried off the traditional Maharashtrian nauvari saree with ease.

“It is what I’ve worn through the film,” she said. “It took some time but I soon got used to draping it.” With help from the costume department, of course. Genelia has spoken all her dialogues in Marathi.

Riteish’s reservoir of goodwill was evident in the strong force of actors powering Raja Shivaji. Calling him “my baby brother”, Abhishek Bachchan said to me that all he asked Riteish was, “Tell me where and when you want me and I’ll be there.”

Sanjay Dutt, missing from the trailer events of Housefull 5 and Dhurandhar, got a rapturous welcome when he swaggered in. Vidya Balan greeted producer and fellow Tam Brahm Jyoti Deshpande of Jio in Tamil.

Bhagyashree, who has royal Sangli blood running in her veins, is a natural fit as the imperious Jijabai.

There have been other films on the Maratha warrior, but Riteish will be tracing the making of Shivaji, how he came from Bijapur and what went into him becoming the warrior king.

Vilasrao Deshmukh was always supportive of his son’s forays into cinema. “He encouraged me to make films in Marathi,” said Riteish, “and we founded Mumbai Film Company. We’ve produced seven films till now. But this is one film of mine that I would have wanted him to watch.”

Next week this time, we’ll know if the bhagwa king is safe in the hands of a Congress man.