PROBLEMS OF PADMAVATI
The Rajputs are a race in western part of India who are known for their valour and rule. They had lot of mini kingdoms ruled by many Rajput Kings in different parts of today's Rajasthan, from Jaipur, Chittor, Jodhpur, Udaipur to Alwar and many other places. These kings were known for their fortification of their cities with huge forts that stand testimony to their architecture even today. Many of these forts were built to defend their and their citizens' honour and cities from the marauding Muslim sultans of Delhi and later British. Some of these forts were built by the kings atop hills to prevent easy capture by the invading armies.
One of the Rajput kings of Chittor was Rana Ratan Sen. He fought the war with Allaudin Khilji. He had a neighbour in Kumbhalgar King Devpal with whom he had a continuing feud. In the battle between the two the Rana was killed. As customary his queens committed self immolation (Jauhar) in the funeral pyre of the Rana. The story of Padmini of Chittor is recounted in the writings of Malik Mohammed Jayasi titled 'Padmavati' in 1540 in Avadhi language. The queen is reportedly from Pollanaruwa in present day Srilanka by a few authors and in a few other writings she was the princess of Singhal Kingdom and daughter of Gandharv Sen another Rajput King. The story line is that she was having a pet parrot which was a talking parrot and the king wanted to kill the parrot as the princess spent more time with the parrot. The parrot flew away and was captured by a hunter. The hunter gave the parrot to a Brahmin who in turn gifted it to the king Rana Ratan Sen. The parrot told the king about the beauty of the princess and the king smitten by her beauty just on hearing the parrot's description later married her, though he was already married and had a queen by name Nagmati.
The Sultan of Delhi Allaudin Khilji heard about the beauty of the queen and wanted to have her for him. When he failed to conquer the Chittor fort, he feigned peace treaty with the Rana and took the Rana as prisoner and took him to Delhi. Another Rajput King Devpal also was smitten by the beauty of Padmini. The queens with the help of their close aides helped free the Rana from the Delhi prison. A war ensued between Rana and Devpal and in the war the Rana was killed. The queens committed self immolation. All these are from the Malik Mohammed Jayasi's writing more as a story and fantasy with more of his imagination. There is no official record of any of these incidents that had happened and wrote about by Malik Mohammed Jayasi. But the story of the Rani Padmini of Chittor had captured the imagination of the public and was told and repeated many times over the centuries. Movies were made in different languages of the country post independence highlighting the valour of the Rajput Kings and people of the kingdom, the honour and sacrifice of the women folk of the Rajputs. One of the earliest moview was Chittoor Rani Padmini in Tamil starring Shivaji Ganesan and Vyjayanthimala in the lead made in 1963. A movie in Hindi was made in 1964 titled Maharani Padmini with Jairaj and Anita Guha. A film was reportedly made in 1930 on the life of Maharani Padmini but full details are not available.Therefore, a historical background had been created by these folklore and the films that were made later.
Now a movie is being made based mostly on the writings of the poem Padmavati by Malik Mohamed Jayasi. How far this movie and the story line is going to keep the prestige of the Rajputs is a moot question. The film makers had relied more on the fantasy of the writer of the poem than made any research into the folklore and discussed the script with the descendants of the royals in Chittor or other Rajput royalty to whom Rani Padmini is a God figure as she committed jauhar in the funeral pyre of her slain husband. Predictably the people of Rajasthan feel that their pride had been hurt with the portrayal of the queen's characterization in the movie. The discussion with the royal family members of Rajasthan, telecast in a TV Channel revealed that they feel hurt with the heroine enacting the role of the queen wearing skimpy dresses and dancing in the midst of people. Their contention that the royal household people will never stoop down to such things in public is a valid point which the film makers should have researched and taken into account.
To quote a celebrated and well respected journalist Prabhu Chawla,"Bhansali and his ilk seem convinced that only delusional distortion of history will make them box office boxers and bestow on them the reputation of warriors of freedom of expression. But they must realise that the new aspirational India is unwilling to trade its golden past for the illusion of untruth".
Most of the films based on history be it past not well recorded but only a folklore or a well recorded recent events, have run into problems. The film made by the southern matinee idol with terrorism as the base of his movie ran into problems with a particular section of the population in the state though the movie was cleared by the CBFC for general viewing. Likewise another movie made by another celebrated director in Hindi was not even allowed to be released by a section of a political party. The distortion of the story-line from what has been accepted as a true happening in those times through the folklore or recorded history definitely will raise the hackles of the people who revere such persons as idols and demigods.
The Sultan of Delhi Allaudin Khilji heard about the beauty of the queen and wanted to have her for him. When he failed to conquer the Chittor fort, he feigned peace treaty with the Rana and took the Rana as prisoner and took him to Delhi. Another Rajput King Devpal also was smitten by the beauty of Padmini. The queens with the help of their close aides helped free the Rana from the Delhi prison. A war ensued between Rana and Devpal and in the war the Rana was killed. The queens committed self immolation. All these are from the Malik Mohammed Jayasi's writing more as a story and fantasy with more of his imagination. There is no official record of any of these incidents that had happened and wrote about by Malik Mohammed Jayasi. But the story of the Rani Padmini of Chittor had captured the imagination of the public and was told and repeated many times over the centuries. Movies were made in different languages of the country post independence highlighting the valour of the Rajput Kings and people of the kingdom, the honour and sacrifice of the women folk of the Rajputs. One of the earliest moview was Chittoor Rani Padmini in Tamil starring Shivaji Ganesan and Vyjayanthimala in the lead made in 1963. A movie in Hindi was made in 1964 titled Maharani Padmini with Jairaj and Anita Guha. A film was reportedly made in 1930 on the life of Maharani Padmini but full details are not available.Therefore, a historical background had been created by these folklore and the films that were made later.
Now a movie is being made based mostly on the writings of the poem Padmavati by Malik Mohamed Jayasi. How far this movie and the story line is going to keep the prestige of the Rajputs is a moot question. The film makers had relied more on the fantasy of the writer of the poem than made any research into the folklore and discussed the script with the descendants of the royals in Chittor or other Rajput royalty to whom Rani Padmini is a God figure as she committed jauhar in the funeral pyre of her slain husband. Predictably the people of Rajasthan feel that their pride had been hurt with the portrayal of the queen's characterization in the movie. The discussion with the royal family members of Rajasthan, telecast in a TV Channel revealed that they feel hurt with the heroine enacting the role of the queen wearing skimpy dresses and dancing in the midst of people. Their contention that the royal household people will never stoop down to such things in public is a valid point which the film makers should have researched and taken into account.
To quote a celebrated and well respected journalist Prabhu Chawla,"Bhansali and his ilk seem convinced that only delusional distortion of history will make them box office boxers and bestow on them the reputation of warriors of freedom of expression. But they must realise that the new aspirational India is unwilling to trade its golden past for the illusion of untruth".
Most of the films based on history be it past not well recorded but only a folklore or a well recorded recent events, have run into problems. The film made by the southern matinee idol with terrorism as the base of his movie ran into problems with a particular section of the population in the state though the movie was cleared by the CBFC for general viewing. Likewise another movie made by another celebrated director in Hindi was not even allowed to be released by a section of a political party. The distortion of the story-line from what has been accepted as a true happening in those times through the folklore or recorded history definitely will raise the hackles of the people who revere such persons as idols and demigods.
Well researched writeup.
ReplyDeletecreate controversies and mint money. Padmavati had rallied the Rajputs and preferred death to a life of sexual slavery. Now, SLB wants to distort the belief of the rajputs and shame them.
ReplyDelete