India, April 30 -- The Marathi historical actioner, Raja Shivaji, is set for a blockbuster start at the box office. Directed by and starring Riteish Deshmukh in the lead, the film chronicles the reign of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his battles with Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Early trends indicate that Raja Shivaji is set to take the strongest start for any Marathi film in history, but won't quite reach the level of Hindi films based on Marathi history, such as Tanhaji and Chhaava.

Raja Shivaji has been performing exceptionally well in advance bookings for its opening weekend. As of 2 PM on Thursday, with less than 15 hours to go before bookings close, the film has sold 1 lakh tickets for its opening day alone. As per Sacnilk, Raja Shi...