Vivek Oberoi, sidelined from mainstream Bollywood for over a decade, is building his entire second act around nationalist biopics, most recently announcing The Pride of Bharat — Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj alongside Kantara star Rishab Shetty. According to The Times of India, the actor called it an 'epic' collaboration — but his pattern reveals a calculated bet on a parallel industry ecosystem.

Here is a question Bollywood does not like to answer out loud: what happens to a leading man once the industry decides he is done? Most fade. Some pivot to streaming. Vivek Oberoi has chosen a third door — one marked with a saffron flag and a historical sword.

According to The Times of India, Oberoi announced his attachment to The Pride of Bharat — Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, effusively praising Kantara star Rishab Shetty and declaring he "can't wait to create something epic." On its face, this is a casting announcement. Beneath it, India Herald's read is that it represents something far more structurally interesting: the consolidation of a parallel Bollywood economy, one built entirely on the nationalist epic, and Oberoi's all-in wager that this economy is his only viable career.

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The Pattern Nobody Is Saying Out Loud

Rewind to 2019. Oberoi starred in PM Narendra Modi, a hagiographic biopic timed precisely to the general election. The film was not critically acclaimed — reviewers were, to put it charitably, unkind — but it did something more valuable for Oberoi than any Filmfare trophy: it placed him inside a specific ecosystem. An ecosystem where the audience is pre-sold on sentiment, where the marketing is partly done by political currents, and where the traditional Bollywood gatekeeping apparatus — the Dharmas, the YRFs, the Nadiadwalas — is irrelevant.

Now, seven years later, the same actor is headlining another historically charged project, this time invoking Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, arguably the single most emotionally potent figure in Maratha and broader Hindu nationalist iconography. The pattern is not subtle. It is, in fact, remarkably strategic.

The Sandeep Singh Assembly Line

To understand why Oberoi keeps showing up in these projects, follow the production pipeline. Sandeep Singh — a producer whose name has appeared alongside several nationalism-adjacent projects and who has been a polarising figure in the industry — has been quietly building what amounts to a content factory for this genre. According to trade reports and industry analysis, Singh's production approach operates on a clear thesis: there is an underserved, enormous audience for films that blend Hindu civilisational pride with commercial spectacle, and the mainstream industry is either too nervous or too snobbish to serve it consistently.

This is where Oberoi becomes essential to the model. A-list actors will not touch these scripts — the reputational calculus for a Ranbir Kapoor or a Ranveer Singh does not favour it. But Oberoi, whose last mainstream hit was Shootout at Lokhandwala nearly two decades ago, has nothing to protect and everything to gain. He brings name recognition, a Bollywood pedigree (however faded), and — crucially — genuine enthusiasm for the ideological project.

Inside Talk

The chatter in Film Nagar and Juhu is pointed. Trade circles are abuzz that the Rishab Shetty attachment is less about artistic collaboration and more about importing Kantara's proven "Hindu civilisational" audience into a Bollywood production. Shetty's Kantara was a phenomenon precisely because it channelled folk religiosity into commercial spectacle with extraordinary skill. The industry read, according to insiders speaking on background, is that attaching Shetty's name — even in a collaborative capacity — is an audience-signalling device: a guarantee to ticket-buyers that this Shivaji film will carry the same devotional charge.

There is also quieter speculation about whether Oberoi's repeated casting in these projects reflects genuine artistic choice or contractual loyalty to a specific production camp. His team has not publicly addressed this, and as of publication, no statement has been issued clarifying the terms of his involvement. (This reflects industry chatter and unverified speculation, not confirmed fact.)

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Why This Formula Works — Until It Doesn't

The uncomfortable truth the mainstream industry does not want to concede is that the nationalist epic has a floor. The PM Modi biopic, despite savage reviews, reportedly recovered its modest budget. Tanhaji, though a far superior film, proved the box-office ceiling for this genre could reach ₹350 crore. The Kashmir Files demonstrated that ideological conviction could substitute for star power entirely, earning over ₹340 crore on a negligible budget, as reported by trade analyst Taran Adarsh at the time.

But here is the counterweight the cheerleaders ignore: for every Kashmir Files, there is a Ram Setu — Akshay Kumar's expensive attempt to ride the same wave, which underwhelmed despite a far bigger star and budget. The formula has a floor, yes, but the ceiling is unpredictable and audience fatigue is real. A mediocre Shivaji film will not be forgiven simply because the subject is sacred. If anything, the reverence audiences feel for the historical figure raises the bar, not lowers it.

The Larger Game: A Cinematic Universe of Civilisational Heroes

What Oberoi is participating in — perhaps knowingly, perhaps as a willing passenger — is the construction of what India Herald would call a Nationalist Cinematic Universe. The logic mirrors Marvel's playbook, oddly enough: establish individual hero properties (Modi, Shivaji, potentially Rana Pratap, Chandragupta), build audience loyalty across them, and create a self-sustaining ecosystem where one film's audience is pre-sold for the next.

The difference, of course, is that Marvel spent billions on writing talent and visual effects. The NCU, as it were, has tended to spend on sentiment and hope the production values catch up. Whether The Pride of Bharat breaks that pattern will determine not just Oberoi's career, but whether this entire parallel economy matures into something durable or collapses under the weight of its own repetition.

What Comes Next

Watch for two signals in the coming months. First, whether Rishab Shetty's involvement deepens beyond a birthday-wish announcement into a confirmed creative role — that would fundamentally change the project's credibility. Second, whether the production secures a major studio distribution deal or remains in the independent-release lane. The former would signal that mainstream Bollywood is finally willing to co-opt the nationalist epic rather than ignore it. The latter would confirm that Oberoi and his producers remain outside the citadel, knocking.

Either way, Vivek Oberoi has made his choice. He is not trying to get back into the Bollywood he left. He is betting that the Bollywood he left is no longer the only game in town — and that the audience he is courting does not care what the critics think, only what the heroes on screen represent. The real question is not whether he believes in the mission. It is whether the mission believes in him enough to make him a star again.

Key Takeaways

  • Vivek Oberoi has systematically moved from mainstream Bollywood to the nationalist-epic niche, staking his comeback on projects like PM Narendra Modi (2019) and now The Pride of Bharat — Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
  • The attachment of Kantara star Rishab Shetty signals a deliberate strategy to import the 'Hindu civilisational' audience proven by Kantara's ₹400+ crore success into a Bollywood production framework.
  • The nationalist epic genre has a reliable box-office floor but an unpredictable ceiling — The Kashmir Files earned ₹340 crore on a tiny budget, while Akshay Kumar's Ram Setu underperformed despite far greater investment, per trade reports.
  • Whether Rishab Shetty's role deepens beyond announcement and whether the film secures mainstream studio distribution will determine if this parallel 'Nationalist Cinematic Universe' matures or stalls.

By the Numbers

  • The Kashmir Files earned over ₹340 crore on a negligible production budget, per trade analyst Taran Adarsh, demonstrating the genre's floor.
  • Tanhaji crossed ₹350 crore domestically, establishing the commercial ceiling for well-made nationalist epics at the time, according to Box Office India.
  • Vivek Oberoi's last widely acknowledged mainstream Bollywood hit, Shootout at Lokhandwala, released nearly two decades ago.
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Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj The Pride of Bharat Rishab Shetty Kantara nationalist cinema biopic PM Narendra Modi film

S Venkateshwari

07/07/2026 09:50 PM