The controversy surrounding SS Rajamouli’s upcoming magnum opus – ‘RRR’ does not seem to be slowing down as Adivasis have now opposed the depiction of their revolutionary tribal leader – Komaram Bheem as a Muslim in the movie.
A controversy had erupted after the latest teaser of multi-lingual movie ‘RRR’ introducing the character of Komaram Bheem, played by Jr NTR, was released on October 22. In the teaser, Komaram Bheem was seen wearing a skull cap and applying Surma to his eyes.
Following the launch of teaser, the makers of the movie have been receiving severe backlash not only from the fans, social media users but also from the family of the tribal leader and the Gond tribal community.
Komaram Bheem slams moviemakers, says it is nothing but distortion
Lashing out moviemakers, Komaram Bheem’s grandson Sone Rao pointed out the glaring errors in the ‘RRR’ movie teaser and mentioned that representing their ‘hero’ as a person from the Muslim community is nothing but a ‘distortion’.
Rao added that the film has offended the community and he further requested Rajamouli to withdraw the scene in which Komaram Bheem is shown in a Muslim outfit. Bheem never looked like a Muslim and there is no record of the same, said Komaram Bheem’s grandson.
In a video, Sone Rao said that had the director and writers consulted them for research information about our hero, they would have helped them out. “Bheem fought for the land, water and other resources of tribals. Representing him as a minority community member is nothing but a distortion,” the grandson of the tribal leader said.
“By misrepresenting a hero we all worship as a god, the film has offended us Adivasis. We request Rajamouli to withdraw the Muslim get-up,” he said adding that if the director of the movie does not withdraw the look, the community will surely protest against the movie.
Tribal communities object to depiction of tribal leader as a ‘Muslim’
Not just his family, the Gond tribals of Adilabad are up in arms after the moviemakers depicted the tribal leader as a Muslim. Komaram Bheem is regarded as a hero to the Adilabad tribals, who believe that his depiction is an ‘insult’ to their hero who led an uprising against the last Nizam.
The tribal leaders have also threatened to file a case under the SC/ST Atrocities Act if certain scenes are not deleted with immediate effect.
An Adivasi leader from Adilabad expressed his opposition to such portrayal and questioned Rajamouli’s intentions saying that the director had never visited the area or the Gond community or consulted with the community leaders before making the movie.
”For us, Komaram Bheem is our deity. We even pray to him and observe Aswayuja Powrnami commemorating his life. Portraying Komaram Bheem as a Muslim is an affront to his family and the entire Gond tribe. If they are doing it just for money, they can make other kinds of films. They must not misrepresent an Adivasi leader who fought for our rights,” he said.
Speaking to the media, Kanaka Venkateshwar Rao, a teacher from the Raj Gond community, said that the members of the community are indeed upset with the way their leader has been represented in the video.
“All these days, the revolutionary leader was only known within Telangana. Through this film, we thought he would become known throughout the world. But it looks like they are only using the name of Komaram Bheem, but don’t really seem to be talking about his struggle for Adivasi rights over land, water and other resources,” he said.
He said that depiction of Komaram Bheem in such an attire, who fought against the Nizam rule at the time, has bothered the community a bit. It is not right to steer him towards any one religion. “We wonder why there was a need to show him that way since no historical records mention that he ever disguised himself as a Muslim man to fight against the Nizams,” added Venkateshwar Rao hoping that the film explains this distortion.
Controversy over wrong depiction of tribal leader Komaram Bheem
The distortion in the history was first flagged by popular historian True Indology, who revealed how the moviemakers had resorted to spread blatant falsehood in the name of history.
He added that Komaram Bheem fought against Nizams and ‘Jihadi’ Razakar army and added that there is no evidence to suggest that he had ‘disguised’ as a Muslim during his fight against Nizams as depicted in the movie.
Horrible distortion:
— True Indology (@TIinExile) October 22, 2020
Bahubali director Rajamouli is making a 400 crore budget film on great freedom fighter Komaram Bheem.
Komaran Bheem fought against Islαmist Nizam & his Jihαdi Razakar army.Why is he shown wearing a skull cap?
Such blatant falsehood in the name of history! pic.twitter.com/4tzaXSAOcZ
The multi-lingual movie ‘RRR’ is a fictional tale of friendship between two freedom warriors – Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sita Ramaraju – belonging to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states. NTR plays Komaram Bheem while Ram Charan is portraying the role of Alluri Sita Ramaraju.
The movie is an adaption of the life story of two legendary revolutionaries and their journey away from home before they started fighting for their country in the 1920s.
The much-anticipated film is produced on a massive budget of Rs 450 crores and the movie will release in Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil on January 8, 2021.
