Actor Akshay Kumar, ahead of the release of his upcoming movie ‘Samrat Prithviraj’, a heroic story of a legendary Hindu Rajput king, lamented that history textbooks do not have much on him, stating that there are only 2-3 lines on Prithviraj Chauhan in the books. By contrast, he says, a lot is mentioned about the invaders who invaded India.
#WATCH | Unfortunately, our history textbooks only have 2-3 lines about Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan, but a lot has been mentioned about the invaders. There is hardly anything mentioned about our culture and our Maharajas: Actor Akshay Kumar to ANI pic.twitter.com/qnKacpylLv
— ANI (@ANI) June 1, 2022
“I wanted to know more about Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan. I heard so many stories from him (Director Chandraprakash Dwivedi), but unfortunately, our history textbooks have only 2 or 3 lines about him. Everything else is there in the books, there are a lot of details about invaders, but there’s hardly any mention of our culture and our Maharajas,” Kumar lamented during his interview with ANI’s Smita Prakash.
When asked why indigenous kings have not gotten their due in history books, Kumar said, “Nobody is there to write about it in our history books. I would like to appeal to the Education Minister to look into this matter and see if we can balance it. We should know about the Mughals, but we must also know about our kings as well; they were great too.”
#WATCH | Nobody is there to write about it in our history books. I would like to appeal to the Education Minister to look into this matter and see if we can balance it. We should know about Mughals but know about our kings also, they were great too: Actor Akshay Kumar to ANI pic.twitter.com/05WKtQ4dNw
— ANI (@ANI) June 1, 2022
Speaking about whether the movie catered to Hindu nationalism, director Chandraprakash Dwivedi said it is not just about Hindu nationalism but about cultural nationalism too, and that there is nothing wrong in reviving Hindu or cultural nationalism.
‘Movie is not just about Hindu nationalism but cultural nationalism too’: Director Chandraprakash Dwivedi
“You used the term Hindu nationalism. I would call it cultural nationalism too. Nothing wrong with reviving Hindu nationalism/ Cultural nationalism as this nation’s character is Hindu, when I say Hindu, it means culture,” Dwivedi said.
He further explained why the movie’s cast had gone to Varanasi recently. “Since the movie is about cultural nationalism…as we know the spiritual capital of this country is Varanasi….so it was on my mind to remind our citizens that the invader who first destroyed Kashi Vishwanath Temple was Qutub-ud-Din Aibak, the slave of Muhammad Ghori and is there in our movie.”
Dwivedi also explained a reference to Somnath Temple as depicted in his movie, highlighting how the rebuilding of Somnath after India’s independence in 1947 symbolised the country’s reclamation of its lost culture.
#WATCH | Samrat Prithviraj's dir Chandraprakash Dwivedi, says "…You used the term Hindu nationalism, I call it cultural nationalism too. Nothing wrong in reviving Hindu nationalism/cultural nationalism as this nation's character is Hindu, when I say Hindu it means culture…." pic.twitter.com/OrMWimIZYp
— ANI (@ANI) June 1, 2022
“Secondly, we also went to Somnath. Its reference comes in the movie. And Somnath was destroyed many times. The country was confronted with the question of whether to leave the destroyed Somnath Temple as it is or rebuild it to its past glory. In 1947, when India got independence, Sardar Patel, KM Munshi, Menon, and others worked towards rebuilding it, despite staunch opposition from former PM Jawaharlal Nehru because they argued that Somnath was their source of inspiration and faith,” Dwivedi said.
The Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ is set to hit the theatres on 3 June 2022. The film is based on Prithviraj Raso, a Braj language epic poem about the life of Prithviraj Chauhan, a Rajput king from the Chahamana dynasty. Besides Akshay Kumar who is playing the role of Prithviraj Chauhan, the movie has Manushi Chhillar, Sanjay Dutt, Sonu Sood, Manav Vij, Ashutosh Rana, and Sakshi Tanwar in pivotal roles.
