In a bizarre turn of events, locals gathered around Madhya Pradesh's Burhanpur after 'Chhaava' revealed that the Mughals looted from the Marathas and hid the treasure at Asirgarh Fort. Take a look!
Cinema, especially Bollywood, has a unique way of influencing people, be it with new fashion trends, wedding themes, or even travel destinations. But this time, things have escalated to a whole new level! Amid the grand success of Vicky Kaushal’s periodical drama, Chhaava, a group of locals at Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur set out on a real-life treasure hunt in the middle of the night. Seeing the video, some netizens were left in splits, while others questioned the locals’ common sense.
The romantic epic, Chhaava, starring Vicky Kaushal as ‘Sambhaji Maharaj’, reignited the buzz surrounding the possibility of hidden gold coins from the Mughal era. The movie, based on Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj’s battles against the Mughals, suggests that the looted treasures of the Marathas were hidden in Asirgarh Fort. Adding fuel to the fire, one scene from the film referred to Burhanpur as a ‘gold mine’. Reacting to the same, locals swarmed around Asirgarh Fort during the late hours of March 7, 2025, and the early hours of March 8, 2025.
A video clip that has surfaced on social media showed a bunch of people excavating the grounds with metal detectors, soil-digging tools, bags and flashlights in hopes of getting their hands on the secret treasure. Reportedly, a large crowd gathered in Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh to excavate gold coins buried near Asirgarh Fort until 3 AM.
Watch the video here.
The video clips have since taken social media by storm, and netizens could not help but chime in with their views. In a viral Reddit thread showing the video, one user commented, "Literacy and Education do not impact IQ and Common Sense". Another wrote, "This is the reason movies like Animal & Dark humour etc are dangerous because our public largely comprises of dumb people who will believe & enact everything they watch & never apply their brain. It's not even the problem of illiteracy, I'm sure most of these people have attended school, they're just plain stupid." One user chimed in, saying:
"Let’s clock this as the dumbest thing India did this year: March’25 - went in with faulty tools and bare hands to dig up gold. Nothing more dumber than this, please."
While this incident feels like an exaggerated response to cinema, the idea of lost Mughal treasure isn’t entirely baseless. Historians confirm that Burhanpur was once a wealthy Mughal city, and it had its own mint for producing gold and silver coins. During times of war, people used to bury their wealth underground for safekeeping. Some locals claimed to have found coins before.
However, in responding to the situation, authorities have sent probe teams to prevent the frenzy and ban public entry. The area’s District Collector, Harsh Singh told The Hindu:
“Rumours of a hidden treasure have long existed in the area. They were perhaps fuelled after the movie, following which people turned up to dig a private land parcel next to the fort’s boundary… If anything was found or is found in the future, it will obviously be government property due to its archaeological significance. We will take any further action based on the SDM’s report.”
What are your views on the incident? Would you have joined the treasure hunt?
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