The film stars Sanjay Dutt in the title role as Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, the Maharaja of Jam Sahib of Nawanagar (now Jamnagar, Gujarat, India). The film also features Dhruv Verma in the lead role while Deepraj Rana, Gulshan Grover, Raaj Vishwakarma and Sharad Kapoor in supporting roles.
Cast
Sanjay Dutt as Maharaja Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja
Dhruv Verma as a soldier and a sniper
Raaj Vishwakarma as Soldier (Viraj)
Deepraj Rana
Gulshan Grover
Sharad Kapoor
Production
Principal photography began on 21 February 2020, with scenes of the film shot in 3 languages: Hindi, English and Polish. Filming on the film was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The film takes place during World War II. The film will be shot in London, Russia, Poland and Gujarat (India).[1]
Shiamak Davar served as the choreographer, while Hariharan composed the film's music and score.
Controversy
The Good Maharaja is based on Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, the Maharaja of Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, Gujarat, who in the pre-independence period provided shelter and education to about 1,000 Polish children evacuated from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) to escape. German bombing during World War II.
The film was originally to be directed by Omung Kumar of Legend Studios. After the release of the first look, Maharaja Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji's daughters sent a cease and desist notice to the makers, Omung Kumar and Sandeep Singh; co-owners of Legend Studios. The daughters' counsel argued, "The Maharaja was a public figure and if the facts are distorted, it will tarnish his image. Therefore, our clients object to the film as no permission is sought from them." Sandeep Singh claimed that no permission was needed from the Maharaja's heirs and continued that "this legal action against the film is just an attempt to get publicity from the Maharaja's family". Singh said the Maharaja's story is in the public domain. After that, Vikash Verma took over the film as the director.
