Mumbai, Sep 2, KNT: Bestselling author Amish Tripathi, known for his mythological and historical fiction, has criticised Bollywood for what he described as misrepresentation of history in popular films. Speaking at the launch of his new book, The Chola Tigers: Avengers of Somnath, Amish pointed out that cinema’s treatment of historical characters often distorts facts and misleads audiences.
Taking the examples of landmark films Padmavat (2016) and Jodhaa Akbar (2008), the author said that rulers like Alauddin Khilji and Emperor Akbar were portrayed in ways that bore little resemblance to historical reality. In Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavat, Khilji was played by Ranveer Singh, while Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar featured Hrithik Roshan as the Mughal emperor opposite Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Amish argued that casting glamorous Bollywood stars to play Central Asian rulers was misleading, as their actual appearance and cultural background were very different. He further added that the use of Urdu in these period dramas was anachronistic, since the language evolved in India much later. “These rulers would have spoken languages like Persian or Turkish, not Urdu,” he remarked.
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While acknowledging that cinema is a form of entertainment, Amish stressed that Bollywood holds a special responsibility in shaping public perceptions through period films. “When extremely popular actors play historical figures in a factually incorrect manner, it influences how generations view history,” he said.
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Amish’s latest book The Chola Tigers: Avengers of Somnath has just been released, while films like Padmavat and Jodhaa Akbar continue to stream on OTT platforms. [KNT]
