When Hollywood continues to get away with rewriting history

Hindi movies like “Manikarnika,” “Panipat,” “Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior,” “Padmavaat,” and the most recent release, “Samrat Prithviraj,” have come under fire recently for making claims to depict historical facts but failing to do so or using a selective portion to suit a particular narrative to appeal to a broad audience. Factual-themed movies frequently have scenes or even characters that are totally dramatized and rife with historical inaccuracies.

Hollywood is the greater offender, despite the fact that Bollywood is being singled out for rewriting history. For instance, Russell Crowe played the fictitious character Maximus in “Gladiator.” In Roman history, there was no such person. Captain America: The First Avenger completely fictionalizes the World War II events it depicts. The issue emerged when some viewers thought the fictionalized narratives were factual, despite the fact that both films were commercial hits.

For instance, “Inglorious Basterds” completely altered how World War II ended. Many individuals who were unaware of the actual history began to believe what was depicted in the movie as it became a huge global success. This type of creative choice, in the opinion of writer-director Madhureeta Anand, has to do with how and why moviemakers desire to alter history. “It could be an act of creative freedom or propaganda. The two have a significant difference, and filmmakers can always tell which one it is. Additionally, it relies on how publicity is distributed. In the instance of “Samrat Prithviraj,” the advertisements suggested that the details had to be included in school textbooks.

While she is vehemently opposed to any form of censorship, Anand says. “Filmmakers should add a disclaimer and be banned from making publicity claims that what is being presented in the movie is factual,” the woman asserts. The difference between actual life and fiction is that fiction is meant to make sense, as author and screenwriter Amish Tripathi adds to the statement: Storytellers have interpreted history to create stories from the beginning of recorded history. Some of those tales have been successful, while others have not. I believe that this is a matter for storytellers and their audiences to discuss.