In recent years, Hindi cinema have actually flown the saffron flag. Medieval sagas have been converted into epic conflicts on screen, with valorous Hindu monarchs defeating crude and savage Muslim marauders, often based on fiction and folklore. The righteous rulers extol their Hindu credentials loudly and frequently, as though they are battling for the faith. It fits in nicely with the governing government’s new hyper-nationalist Hindutva agenda. But, for the first time, a film has gone where no other has gone before.
“Come Celebrate India’s Last Hindu Samrat,” says a newspaper ad for the upcoming film Samrat Prithviraj. There’s no room for misunderstanding here. No one has spelled it out so plainly, directing it at a specific community in such strong terms; indeed, Hindi films rely on viewers from all demographics and religions to succeed commercially. This is one film that goes out of its way to attract exclusively (hardcore) Hindu audiences.
After defeating Mohammed Ghori multiple times, the film portrays the narrative of Prithviraj Chauhan, who reigned in present-day Rajasthan and Delhi in the 12th century and was eventually defeated and imprisoned by him.
Prithviraj, whose devotion to Sanyogita was instilled in him as a child, has been depicted in cinema and television before, but never on the grand scale of the new film, which stars Akshay Kumar, the poster boy for Indian nationalism.
One may argue that Samrat Prithviraj encapsulates the principles of the moment, but are they truly national values or just those of raucous and violent mobs that, backed by the establishment and state apparatus, want to force their will on others who do not share their Hindutva? Even if they are devoted Hindus, a substantial proportion of Indians do not. They don’t, however, go about lynching people or shouting people down.
As a result, Samrat Prithviraj’s producers and investors may be surprised. They may discover that they need a far larger audience than merely ardent Hindutva supporters to recoup their substantial expenditure. Even among them, not everyone will wait outside the theatres in line. If the projected box office figures do not materialize, the overuse of the Hindu subject, like many previous fads and trends in Hindi cinema, will go away.
