What Afghans Think Of Panipat And The Portrayal Of Ahmadshah Abdali?
Earlier this month, a tweet by the famous Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt became viral among Afghan social media users. "Come witness the battle that changed history! #Panipat in cinemas on December 6th," Dutt tweeted on November 1.
The reactions were much stronger after the release of the film's trailer, this week.
The response by Afghans was wide and huge, expressing their concerns about the portrayal of Ahmad Shah Abdali, and regarding the historical battle of Panipat in the movie.
Bollywood films, on previous occasions, have made stereotypical depictions of Afghans, such as Kabuliwala (1961), Khuda Gawah (1992), Padmavat (2018), and the recently released Kesari (2019).
Panipat is one of the famous names from India among Afghans for being the battleground between the Afghan and the Martha armies, known as "the Third Battle of Panipat" in history.
We Afghans learn about this battle from the history books in secondary schools. School books teach us that the Afghan emperor Ahmad Shah Durrani defeated the Maratha army, under Bhao Sahib on (January 14, 1761) to secure his empire.
The film Panipat, as its title and trailer shows, depicts the same battle where Sanjay Dutt plays Abdali and Arjun Kapoor plays Sadashivrao ‘Bhau’. The film has already generated several debates among Afghans on social media as it is connected to their history, and portraying the man, who is considered as the founder modern Afghanistan.
Ahmad Shah Durrani also known as Ahmadshah Abadli, and is regarded as Ahmadshah Baba "the father of the nation" in Afghanistan.
After the exaggerated portrayal of Alauddin Khalji in the controversial movie Pdmavat and the fact that Abdali is considered as an ‘invader’ in India makes Afghans worried about the portrayal of their national hero in the movie, which is scheduled to be released on December 6 this year.
Niza Rezahi, a local Afghan, hopes that the film is "based on true historical events and not forged in favour of any particular group."
The Bollywood Movie “Panipat” trailer has raised a lot of controversies among the Afghans. Let us hope the upcoming movie is based on true historical events and not forged in favor of any particular group. pic.twitter.com/ZkK6j1WZxL
— Nizamrezahi (@nizamrezahi)Khan Saeed Arab is another Afghan who is worried about the negative portrayal of his country's hero, "negative role of Ahmad Shah Abdali will not be acceptable to all Afghan." Arab writes retweeting Sanjay Dutt 's tweet "Ahmad Shah Abdali - Death strikes where his shadow falls. Panipat trailer out tomorrow. #PanipatLook."
Negative roll of Ahmad Shah Abdali will not accpctible for our all Afghan #Panipathttps://t.co/2kaCdHZTmU
— Khan Saeed Arab(خان سعید عرب ) (@khanSaeedArab)Meanwhile, Afghans are divided on the film Panipat and Abdali's portrayal in the movie. "Art is the expressive voice of humanity. I think, a filmmaker's look at making a historical film is quite different from politicians and even Historians. The human and critical look of the filmmaker makes the work beautiful. About ‘Panipat I haven’t seen the film yet, no comment," tweeted Roya Sadat, the award-winning Afghan filmmaker.
Art is the expressive voice of humanity. I think, a filmmaker's look on making a historical film is quite different from politicians and even Historians.The human and critical look of the filmmaker makes the work beautiful. About ‘Panipat I haven’t seen the film yet, no comment pic.twitter.com/p7U1Xlpdc2
— Roya Sadat (@sadatroya1)Sahraa Karimi, the Chairperson of the Afghan film directory, believes that lack of facilities for producing films in Afghanistan is the real problem, which stops Afghans from producing their own version of the reality. "Who has money & artistic certification can make their own version; instead of blaming please make your own version too," she commented while retweeting another tweet related to the issue.
@Satar_Saadat Sir; I believe Indian Film Industry is reach enough to make this kind of historical movie without any help from international comm. And also all our reaction ( negative & positive) will be very good marketing & advertizing for the film; this is what they want. https://t.co/HUTfiyr4sv
— Sahraa Karimi/ صØرا كريمي (@sahraakarimi)Afghanistan see India as one of its biggest supporters and an ally in the ongoing 'anti-terrorism' war in region. The former Afghan ambassador in New Delhi Shaida Muhammad Abdali in response to Dutt's tweets hoped that the film will not harm the Indo-Afghan ties. "Historically, the Indian cinema has been extremely instrumental in strengthening the Indo-Afghan ties - I very much hope that the film “Panipat” has kept that fact in mind," Abdali tweeted.
— Dr Shaida Abdali (@ShaidaAbdali)Dear @duttsanjay Ji: Historically, the Indian cinema has been extremely instrumental in strengthening the Indo-Afghan ties - I very much hope that the film “Panipat” has kept that fact in mind while dealing with this important episode of our shared history! indiatimesapps://t.co/8HKLei2ce1
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