next film on 29 July 2016, titled Sons of Sardaar: Battle of Saragarhi, a big-budget war film based on the 1897 Saragarhi battle between 21 Sikhs and 10,000 Afghans. Made on a huge scale, Devgn planned to start the production work in late 2016, and decided to release the film on Diwali next year; However, when Karan Johar announced Kesari, another film based on the battle of Saragarhi, Devgn decided to postpone the project after September 2017. In late February 2019, it was reported that Devgn had shelved the project. Meanwhile, Ajay Devgn, decided to do another period film with Om Raut, based on the life of Maratha warrior Tanaji Malusare, which was titled officially as Taanaji: The Unsung Warrior. The first look of Taanaji was released on 20 July 2017, through Devgn's official Twitter account, and pre-production work commenced the following day. In August 2017, a report from Asian Age, claimed that the film will also be made simultaneously in Marathi language, due to the demand of the story, and also Raut's popularity in Marathi, after the success of Lokmanya: Ek Yug Purush (2015). A source claimed that the film's pre-production work will go on for 6–8 months, and Ajay Devgn will start the shoot of the film in March 2018. However, the team undertook heavy VFX works for the film for 6–8 months, and Devgn's NY VFXWAALA was brought on board for the film, whereas filmmakers planned to release the film in 3D formats, thus delaying the film's shoot to September 2018. On 2 August 2018, Bhushan Kumar of T-Series, undertook the project in collaboration with Ajay Devgn's production company and planned to start the shoot in end of September. In March 2019, the film's title Taanaji: The Unsung Warrior was changed to Tanhaji, due to numerological reasons. Casting In October 2018, Kajol was reported to play the role of Taanaji's wife in the film. In January 2019, Saif Ali Khan was reported to play the role of Udaybhan Singh Rathore, one of the main antagonists of the film. For his role, Khan had to prepare for sword fighting and horse-riding, as a part of the character, In an interview with Mid-Day, he stated "A chunk of the research has been done by Om, who has done a thorough job. Since it is an action-packed film, I was required to look leaner. I had to be adept in