Akshay Kumar, Manushi Chillar-starrer Prithviraj in hot water again
Prithviraj starring Akshay Kumar in titular role, in trouble after hashtag #boycottprithvirajchouhanfilm and #BoycottPrithvirajMovie takes off on Twitter
The controversy regarding Akshay Kumar and Manushi Chillar’s film Prithviraj has surfaced again, days ahed of the film's release. The historical drama is based on a Braj basha poem about King Prithviraj’s clashes with with Muhammad Ghori, a ruler of the Ghurid dynasty. On January 16, users on Twitter used hashtags #boycottprithvirajchouhanfilm and #BoycottPrithvirajMovie to ensure that the filmmaker’s take notice of the rising dissent against the release of the film in the state of Rajasthan.
The film portrays Prithviraj (Akshay) as someone who belongs to the Chauhan dynasty of Rajputs. This has angered members of the Gurjar community who have now taken to Twitter to call for a boycott against the film. They had earlier warned the makers of Prithviraj — Yash Raj Films — that they will not allow the film to be screened in their state if the film were to continue to address Prithviraj as a Rajput.
In the last week of December 2021, a protest was also held in Ajmer against the film directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi. Gurjar leader Himmat Singh had said, "Prithviraj movie is made on the basis of Prithviraj Raso written by Chand Bardai and the same was shown in the teaser.. After studying the inscriptions available in history, researchers have believed that Chand Bardai wrote it around 400 years back after the reign of Prithviraj Chauhan. In the 16th century, the Raso epic was written which is fictional. The epic is written by Chand Bardai in Pringal language which is a mixture of Bajra and Rajasthani language."
The claims made by the Gurjar community were rejected by the Rajput community. Shri Rajput Karni Sena national spokesperson Vijendra Singh Shaktawat stated that Gurjars were initially 'gauchar', who then converted into Gujjars and then Gurjars. They basically come from Gujarat and hence got this name. He also added that Gurjar is a place-related term and not a caste-related term
Also starring Sanjay Dutt, Sonu Sood, Ashutosh Rana, and Sakshi Tanwar in prominent roles, the film is slated to be released on January 21, 2022.