Yesterday, Yash Raj Films put out a plea on Twitter to viewers not to share Samrat Prithviraj spoilers. “Since it’s an authentic historical, there are many facets of Samrat’s life that are lesser known to the people of our country,” it said. I’m all for messing with history, but let's be clear: Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s film is based on Prithviraj Raso, an epic poem by Chand Bardai, who was (maybe) in the court of the 12th century Rajput king. Historical accuracy takes a hit when you’re writing poems about your patron. Maybe YRF should have called it authentic fanfiction.
We’ve played this game often enough to know our parts by now. Padmaavat was
based on an epic poem, which didn’t stop people from pretending it was fact.
That film, and Panipat, were framed as foreigners-versus-patriots. Prithviraj
does this as well. In an interview with ANI, Kumar said school textbooks
have only a few lines about Chauhan but a lot of information about ‘invaders’.
“I’m not saying we should not know about Mughals… but we should know about our
kings also,” he adds. Why Mughals? Because 'Ghurid dynasty' isn’t an effective
dog-whistle.
The film opens in a stadium in Ghazni, Afghanistan, with prisoner Prithviraj
blinded by Muhammad Ghori’s men and presented before a baying crowd. He fights
and kills three lions—animal-human duels are to Indian historical films what
meet-cutes are to romcoms. Dwivedi then jumps back in time. We see Prithviraj
take up arms against Ghori because the brother of the Afghan king asks him for
help. He defeats Ghori easily, then spares him: a very Rajput move in that it
costs him his life but allows him to make a bunch of pretty speeches about
Rajput honour before that.
If you were bored to tears by the Rajputs in Padmaavat and kept
waiting for Ranveer Singh’s Khilji to show up, consider yourself warned.
Prithviraj drones on about integrity and sacrifice and motherland as much as
Shahid Kapoor does in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film, and the dead-eyed Manav Vij
as Ghori is way less fun than Singh, or Saif Ali Khan in Tanhaji.
Prithiviraj is joined on the pulpit by Sanyogita (Manushi Chhillar), daughter
of the ruler of Kanauj (Ashutosh Rana). She’s a feminist—or as much as one
could be in 12th century Rajasthan—choosing Prithviraj against her parents’
will and presiding over the Ajmer court with him. Not for the first time, jauhar
is sold with a song and evident pride, as if there’s nothing horrifying about a
group of women jumping into fire.
Recent Hindi historical films have been so consistent in their Islamophobia
that Prithviraj seems a bit restrained in this area. Sure, the Muslim
king is duplicitous and sadistic and bearded and grumpy, and the Hindu
protagonist is a virile feminist warrior. There’s a pointed mention of the
sacking of the Somnath temple by an Afghan king. But at least Ghori isn’t
gnawing at huge hunks of meat like Khilji in Padmaavat, or playing
murder chess like the royals in Panipat. Dwivedi, instead, makes a
distinction between good and bad Hindus. The king of Kanauj slaughters a
buffalo; later, he joins forces with Ghori.
The most interesting thing is the ornateness of Dwivedi’s writing, delivered
with particular relish by Rana and Manoj Joshi, who plays a wealthy
powerbroker. But the 62-year-old director can’t find any momentum; the film
keeps getting bogged down in talky scenes and dull songs. Prithviraj is
compared to a host of Hindu gods and mythological figures, which is par for the
course for recent Hindi cinema, and for Dwivedi, whose previous work includes
adaptations of the Mahabharat and the Upanishads.
Kumar is more than twice Chhillar’s age, and five years older than Sakshi
Tanwar, who plays Chhillar’s mother. I miss when stuff like this was the big
problem in Hindi cinema. Prithviraj closes with a note informing the
viewer that, after its protagonist’s death, India was enslaved for 755 years.
This, of course, is the language of the Sangh. After a screening of the film,
Home Minister Amit Shah echoed this view of history, saying, “Prithviraj
Raso has been one stage of a long fight that went on from 25th September
1025 till 15th August 1947... aggressors and invaders who had never been
defeated had to admit that they drowned when they reached the mouth of the
Ganga-Jamuna.” Invaders were defeated but also ruled India for over 900 years.
Authentic history.
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