One of Indian cinema's most admired directors has offered a first look at a long-in-the-works passion project — and pointed a spotlight at a national hero many Indians have half-forgotten.
The teaser
Variety reported that Nagraj Manjule has unveiled the teaser for "Khashaba," his biopic of the wrestler Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav. The film is backed by Jio Studios, the content arm of India's Reliance, together with Manjule's own Aatpat Productions.
Who Khashaba Jadhav was
Jadhav, born in 1926 in Maharashtra, won a bronze medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics — independent India's first individual Olympic medal, a milestone that predated the country's better-remembered sporting triumphs. Despite the historic nature of the achievement, Jadhav's story has often been overshadowed, and the film aims to restore him to public memory as a figure of grit and national pride.
The filmmaker
Manjule is among the most celebrated voices in Marathi-language cinema. His 2016 film "Sairat," a tragedy of young love across caste lines, became a landmark hit, and he later directed the Hindi film "Jhund" (2022), starring Amitabh Bachchan as a coach who mentors young people from the margins, as his filmography records. His work has consistently paired intimate storytelling with social themes — a sensibility well suited to a sports biography about a man from modest beginnings.
Why it resonates
Sports biopics have become a favored genre in Indian filmmaking, often used to reclaim overlooked chapters of national history. "Khashaba" fits that pattern while standing slightly apart: its subject's feat came in the fragile early years of the republic. The project also reflects a broader industry push, led by studios like Jio, toward films rooted in India's regional languages and stories rather than Hindi-language mainstream cinema alone. Further release details for the film were not confirmed at publication.
