The teaser of Nagraj Manjule’s Khashaba, his third Marathi directorial after Fandry (2013) and Sairat (2016), was unveiled on Thursday. The film is based on the life of independent India’s first Olympic medal winner, Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav. He won a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki in freestyle wrestling.
The teaser begins with a man whirling a rope around his head. Then we see him, in quick cuts, tilling the fields, pulling water from a well, training and engaging in wrestling matches. However, the identity of the actor playing the protagonist is not revealed. There is a shot of some British officers, Nagraj is also seen playing a character which seems to be the village headman. An ensemble of acclaimed actors like Chhaya Kadam, Jitendra Joshi, Deepak Dobriyal and Om Bhutkar is also seen.
Produced by Jio Studios and Aatpat Proudction, Khashaba’s music is by Ajay-Atul. It is scheduled to release in theatres on January 1, 2027.
Nagraj made his Hindi debut with the 2022 film Jhund, starring Amitabh Bachchan in the lead. The film is based on the life of Vijay Barse, the founder of NGO Slum Soccer. Nagraj’s recent work was the Netflix crime-drama series Matka King featuring Vijay Varma, Kritika Kamra, Sai Tamhankar and Gulshan Grover.