Bollywood’s jingoism is going strong with the trailer of Sanjay Dutt starrer Panipat as a recent addition to the archive. The film has already invited criticism from the Afghan government over its portrayal of certain characters, and now Pakistan has jumped aboard too.
It was Pakistani federal minister Fawad Chaudhry who lashed out at the film. He didn’t hold back in separating fact from fiction.
Before we look at what the controversy is about, here’s the trailer for the film.
The trailer has received backlash for distorting historical events. The film-makers falsely marketed this medieval period drama as an ‘accurate’ historical reenactment. Of course, that was not the case at all.
Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain was among the critics. He tweeted:
“When idiots try to rewrite history under RSS influence this is minimum one should expect, agay agay deikheiye hota hai kiya”
When idiots try to rewrite history under RSS influence this is minimum one should expect, agay agay deikheiye hota hai kiya….. https://t.co/IecnORvomx
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) November 11, 2019
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Reactions
His tweet was in response to Reema Omer’s tweet about Bollywood’s same old, generic depiction of Muslim history and its rulers.
“With Panipat, Bollywood’s troubling (and painfully lazy) trope for depicting Muslim rulers/invaders as barbaric savages continue … Also, if the trailer is anything to go by, the film really couldn’t have come at a worse time (or day: December 6, when Babri Masjid was demolished).”
With #Panipat, Bollywood’s troubling (and painfully lazy) trope for depicting Muslim rulers/invaders as barbaric savages continues
Also, if the trailer is anything to go by, the film really couldn’t have come at a worse time (or day: 6 Dec, when Babri masjid was demolished) pic.twitter.com/GdtZsm1N7j
— Reema Omer (@reema_omer) November 11, 2019
Even ex-Afghani presidential candidate, Dr Shaida Arif, gave Sanjay Dutt a ‘History Lession 101’ on his portrayal of Abdali, Indian cinema, amd India-Afghanistan relations.
“Dear Sanjay Dutt jee: Historically, the Indian cinema has been extremely instrumental in strengthening the Indo-Afghan ties. I very much hope that Panipat has kept that fact in mind while dealing with this important episode of our shared history!”
Dear @duttsanjay Ji: Historically, the Indian cinema has been extremely instrumental in strengthening the Indo-Afghan ties – I very much hope that the film “Panipat” has kept that fact in mind while dealing with this important episode of our shared history! https://t.co/8HKLei2ce1
— Dr Shaida Abdali シャイダ・アブダリ博士 (@ShaidaAbdali) November 4, 2019
Many others also called out director Ashutosh Gowarikar for distorting history. Of course, Bakhts justified this.
https://twitter.com/karmYogiOjha/status/1193937320551956492
Umm. For starters, Khilji and Abdali are not “Mughal rulers”
— Reema Omer (@reema_omer) November 11, 2019
https://twitter.com/Dattuo8/status/1193924989403181057
Zealots never agree even when plenty of people came equipped with facts.
https://twitter.com/Peharsari/status/1193911592661983232
https://twitter.com/drmamalkera/status/1193953929937248256
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About Panipat
Panipat cast Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Kapoor, and Kriti Sanon in a period drama about the Battle of Panipat. Arjun Kapoor plays Sadashiv Rao Bhau, with Sanjay Dutt as Ahmad Shah Abdali, and Kriti Sanon as Parvati Bai.
Bollywood vilifying Muslim historians has gotten old. Previously, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Padmaavat followed the same route with Ranveer Singh’s portrayal of Alauddin Khilji being that of a blood-thirsty barbarian.
How long till even India gets over watching the same content with different faces.
