Five Years! That’s how long a Kolhapur-based filmmaker named Mandarr Kaadam has been working on his next film. Not making it. Not shooting it. Just preparing it.
Most directors in India wrap up pre-production in 6 months. Some take a year if they’re being thorough. Mandarr took five.
And honestly? Once you hear what he’s been building, you start to understand why he needed every single one of those years.
The film is called Rudransh: Legacy of a Great King.
It’s inspired by the lives of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. It’s being produced under his own banner, OthBrok Production. And from everything we know so far, this is one of the most ambitious upcoming Indian films you’ve never heard of.
Six Reasons ‘Rudransh’ Is Already On Our Radar:
01. He Actually Did The Research. All Of It.
Five years. Manuscripts. Royal correspondence. Battlefield references. Oral traditions that have been passed down for generations. Mandarr and his team didn’t just Google their way through this story. They studied it. They cross-checked every dialogue against real historical sources. And they refused to start shooting until the research was done. That kind of patience is rare in any industry. In Indian cinema, it’s almost unheard of.
02 It’s About Both Shivaji And Sambhaji Maharaj.
Here’s something interesting. Most Maratha films pick one figure. Shivaji or Sambhaji. Father or son. But Rudransh is built around both legacies. The continuity between them. The succession. The weight of inheritance. That’s a much harder story to tell. It’s also a much more important one.
03. Sukhwinder Singh Recorded the Title Track.
Yes, that Sukhwinder Singh. The one who won the Oscar and Grammy for ‘Jai Ho’. The one whose voice you immediately recognize from Chaiyya Chaiyya, Tauba Tauba, and basically every iconic song of the last two decades. He’s the voice behind the title track of Rudransh. When a singer of that level signs on to a project, it tells you something about the kind of music being made here.
04. The Shoot Is Happening In Maharashtra AND Angola.
Read that again. Angola. As in, the country in Southern Africa. A Maratha-era Indian film shooting a significant portion of its schedule in Africa is something the industry hasn’t really seen before. We don’t know exactly why Angola was chosen yet, but knowing Mandarr’s eye for visual scale, we’re already curious about what he saw there that Maharashtra couldn’t give him.
05. It’s Releasing In Six Languages. Worldwide.
Marathi. Hindi. English. Telugu. Tamil. Malayalam. That’s a pan-India release in every major Indian film market, plus an international rollout. Most regional films pray for a Hindi dub. This one is going wide from day one. Whoever you are, wherever in India you live, Rudransh will release in a language you understand.
06. The Cast Is Going To Be Massive (But It’s Still Under Wraps).
The team has confirmed that both the lead and the antagonist are being filled by ‘industry-leading names’. They haven’t said who yet. Announcements are expected in the coming months. But based on the scale of everything else around this project, the casting is going to match. Watch this space.
Who Is Mandarr Kaadam?
Quick background, because this matters.
Mandar Kadam (who goes by Mandarr Kaadam professionally) didn’t start out in cinema. He started out as a painter.
He trained at R.S. Gosavi Kalaniketan Mahavidyalaya in Kolhapur, one of Maharashtra’s well-respected fine arts institutions. So before he ever picked up a camera, he was thinking in terms of composition, color, mood, and visual design.
After that, he spent a few years in brand development. Different industry, different skill set. But that phase taught him how to take an idea and build a complete identity around it. How to present something to the public so people actually pay attention.
Then he moved into cinema, with the same instincts intact.
You can see it in how Rudransh is being put together. It’s not just a film he’s directing. It’s a long-term creative project he’s building from scratch, with his own production house behind it. That’s a very different mindset from most filmmakers we cover.
Why The Timing Of This Film Is Almost Perfect
Indian historical cinema is having a serious moment right now.
Chhaava in 2025 proved that audiences are hungry for serious Maratha content. It became a genuine phenomenon. Raja Shivaji in 2026 then went and crossed Rs. 72 crore at the box office, becoming one of the biggest Marathi films ever made.
Audiences are watching. They’re showing up. They’re voting with their tickets.
So the real question becomes: what’s next? Who takes this energy and pushes it further?
Rudransh is positioning itself as the answer.
Where other films have leaned heavy on visual spectacle, Mandarr is leading with research. Where others stayed within Maharashtra, he’s going international. Where others did one or two languages, he’s going for six. The scale is bigger. The preparation is deeper. The ambition is wider.
If even half of this delivers on screen, we’re looking at one of the most important Indian historical films in years.
When Is It Releasing?
Shooting starts in 2026 across Maharashtra and Angola. Post-production happens through the rest of the year. And the target release window is late 2026 or early 2027.
Cast announcements, first-look posters, music drops, all of that is coming in the months ahead. The next 12 to 18 months are about to be loud for this project.
Our Final Take
We see hundreds of film announcements every year. Most blend together. A few stand out.
Then there are the rare ones where you can tell, just from the way it’s being built, that something serious is happening. The team is different. The intent is different. The patience is different. You can feel it before the film even comes out.
Rudransh: Legacy of a Great King feels like one of those films.
Mandarr Kaadam has spent five years quietly preparing it. The cameras are about to roll. And whether or not it becomes a box-office monster, it’s almost certainly going to become a conversation.
Remember the name. You’re going to be hearing it a lot in 2026.
THE FILM IN A NUTSHELL
Film: Rudransh: Legacy of a Great King
Director / Producer: Mandarr Kaadam (Mandar Kadam)
Production House: OthBrok Production
Inspired By: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj & Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj
Title Track: Sukhwinder Singh
Languages: Marathi, Hindi, English, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam
Shooting: Maharashtra & Angola (2026)
Pre-Production: 5 Years
Target Release: Late 2026 / Early 2027
Distribution: Pan-India + Worldwide
Official Website: mandarrkaadam.com
Production: othbrokproduction.com
