Raja Shivaji, which is set to release on May 1, will be available in two versions – Marathi and Hindi. Usually, films released in more than one version have the same runtime, with language being the only difference. But Raja Shivaji will be an exception. Bollywood Hungama has exclusively learned that the Hindi version will be shorter than the Marathi version.

The Hindi version of Raja Shivaji was passed by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) with a U/A 16+ certificate on April 28. The length of the film, as mentioned on the certificate, is 187.05 minutes. In other words, Raja Shivaji is 3 hours, 7 minutes and 5 seconds long. No changes were asked by the CBFC as all modifications were already done for the Marathi version. The only suggestion was that the names of chapters, dates, events and locations be mentioned in Hindi.

On April 25, Bollywood Hungama was the first to inform readers that Raja Shivaji’s Marathi version received the censor certificate on April 24. As per the certificate, its runtime is 195.05 minutes, which is 3 hours 15 minutes and 5 seconds. In other words, the Hindi version is shorter by exactly 8 minutes.

An industry insider commented, “Usually, two versions of a film have the exact same duration. However, Riteish Deshmukh has tried a novel experiment and kept the narrative crisp for the Hindi audience. Meanwhile, for the Marathi audience, which would probably be more attracted to the film due to the local flavour, the actor-director has gone for a longer version.”

Interestingly, this was also noticed in the Marathi and Hindi trailers of Raja Shivaji. While the former is 3 minutes and 5 seconds long, the latter has a duration of 2 minutes and 59 seconds.

Raja Shivaji stars Riteish Deshmukh in the role of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and he’s joined by Genelia Deshmukh, Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Fardeen Khan, Bhagyashree, Sachin Khedekar, Amole Gupte, Jitendra Joshi and others. It is produced by Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia Deshmukh’s Mumbai Film Company and Jyoti Deshpande’s Jio Studios.

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