The Arjun Kapoor starrer Panipat has sparked controversy in Rajasthan over its depiction of the Jat ruler Maharaja Surajmal.
The film, which released on December 6, is based on the Third Battle of Panipat with Kapoor playing the role of Sadashivrao Bhau, commander of the Maratha Army, who fights off Afghan invaders in the 18th century.
Directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar, who also made Jodhaa Akbar in 2008, the film allegedly depicts the Bharatpur Maharajah Surajmal (played by Manoj Bakshi according to IMDB) as a greedy emperor who refuses to help the Marathas fight off the invaders unless he is given control over Agra Fort.
On Sunday, Rajasthan's tourism minister, Vishvendra Singh, demanded that the film be banned from screening in North India to avoid a law and order situation after protests erupted in Bharatput.
Singh, who is a direct descendent of Surajmal, is also known as the Maharaja of Bharatpur. He said that he woke up in the morning to an "astonishing" amount of tweets and Facebook posts asking his opinion on how his ancestor was portrayed in Panipat.
He said that he had not yet watched the movie as work had kept him busy but that he would watch the film in the afternoon and express his opinion in the evening.
Singh added that Maharaja Suraj Mal Ji’s dialect in the film is incorrect. "We are proud of our Brij heritage and he always spoke and wrote in Brij Bhasha and not the dialect portrayed in the film. More after I watch the film."
He later tweeted, "It is unfortunate that the legendary Jat ruler, Maharajah Suraj Mal has been depicted in an unseemly light and historical facts have been distorted in the film, Panipat."
"In light of the vociferous protest by the Jat community in Haryana, Rajasthan and other regions of North India, I believe that the film should be banned to avoid a law and order situation."
In light of the vociferous protest by the Jat community in Haryana, Rajasthan and other regions of North India, I believe that the film should be banned to avoid a law and order situation. @ashokgehlot51 @VasundharaBJP @SachinPilot @KatariaLalchand @SatishPooniaBJP @Barmer_Harish
— Vishvendra Singh (@vishvendrabtp) December 8, 2019
Director Gowarikar had told Hindustan Times a few days that ago that people should be patient before judging his film. "It is a given that there will be questions when you make a historical film. If I was a descendant of a great warrior, I would want to know what is being written about or presented about my family member. However, at the same time, people should wait and be patient. I like to go on the front foot and explain that everything is okay"
Opposition leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje also condemned the portrayal of Maharaja Surajmal in the film, which released on Friday.
"The mistaken portrayal of the self-respecting, loyal and large-hearted emperor Maharaja Surajmal in the film Panipat by the filmmaker is condemnable," she tweeted.
Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal wrote on the microblogging site, "I request CBFC, Prakash Javdekar, Prasoon Joshi to look into the matter of 'Panipat' movie to avoid protest, law and order problem. No film or art can misreport history."
Jat leader Nem Singh Faujdaar on Saturday burnt an effigy of Gowariker at the Surajmal Square in Bharatpur amid the presence of hundreds of people who raised slogans against the director.
The film has Sanjay Dutt playing the Afghan invader, Ahmad Shah Abdali, who founded the Durrani empire.
With inputs from PTI
