Padmavati and Bollywood's cultural pilferage

The Padmavati Film has hit the news with the raging controversy of the portrayal of Rani Padmini, The queen of Chittor. There’s a storm of protesters across India who have requested the government to ban the film because as it spuriously attempts to taint the image of Rajput queen in the taking poetic license of drawing her glorious life with Alauddin Khilji, a foreign invader. It gets murkier.

Karni Sena the primary Rajput organisation which is at the forefront of the revolt against the Bollywood film has succeeded in rallying to get states to stop screening the films to avoid the conflict of law and order with the rising anger of the masses with regard to distortion of history.

There are various groups in Rajasthan that claim to be associated with the descendants of Rani Padmavati in Rajasthan have similarly claimed the depiction of the queen as slanderous to the community.

Padmavati in Rajputana posterity

There is a deep sentiment of historic bloodlines in Rajput community that reveres Rani Padmavati not only as a queen but as a Devi, a divine mother who withstood the foreign agression not by surrendering to invaders but by consciously decision of Jauhar with the other princesses. Jauhar is practice of self-immolation which was undertaken by the queens to protect their honour and freedom.

I'm reminded of the great Indian revolutionary fighter Chandra Shekhar Azaad who fought the British forces till he was seriously wounded and left with a single bullet. He had lived his whole life as a revolutionary fighting for the cause of free India but when he knew the time had come. He loaded his colt pistol with the last bullet and ended his whole life. His name is still pronounced with utmost respect and admiration.

This folklore has been glorfied from ages and continues to be a part of Kshatriya tradition. The golden feature of “Aan baan Shaan” has always taken precedence in Rajputana bastion that upholds it as the highest martial code of honour which was not limited to men but also women. Many feminists argue that celebrating Padmavati is sign of patriarchal society that restraints women inexplicably but they lack the insight on the posterity that these kshatriya women carry on their shoulders. The shared divison of subjects in pioneering the civilization.

Now for someone who does not belong to Rajput Community or is not aware of Kshatriya codes of ethics and honour, these topics can be represented as oppressive in light of sacrifices of the princesses who embraced death instead of slavery. It is in the interest of the filmmakers to engage with the cultural communities before flagging or appropriating their historicity with flames of power, lust or idyllic romanticism.

Those who squander their inheritance, can never know greatness. It escapes them just as they escape their birthright.

Cultural Dissonance 

It is not uncommon of pop culture or Bollywood for that matter, to dilute the essence of subject into cultural appropriation or simply misappropriation. The popular culture that overrides the sensitivities of the massfold atttempts to cripple the social fabric of the society that sustains the foundations of the established society.

Rani Padmini is not a long lost figure that is buried in history. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has brought out of dungeons but an active part of Rajputana Royalty whose gallantry is retold through ages as a part of civilisational inheritance. We have been seeing rajputs from across the country echoing this in a singular voice, coupled with other ethnic groups who share their part in the rich folklores of Rajasthan.

By simply doing away from engaging the responsible leaders of the Rajput community, the filmmakers have caused more damage to their franchise. Moreover, by inviting a third party of prime time journalists they have broadened the area of conflict by seeking support of media channels in their favour, intuitively diluting the authority of CBFC (Central board of Film Certification) When the filmmakers have no objection to have a screening of the film for the journalists why do they hesitate to show it to the people who are actual stakeholders as the

Flipside

Contrary to the claims of history, it is said that no Hindu queen existed. She was depicted in the poetry of the 16th century poet who crafted the literature of the valour of Hindu resistance against the Islamic invaders. Slamming it as fable fiction. Similar charges have been made in the past to usurp the Hindu purnanas on the lines of mythology.

This short sighted critique of Hindu society can't plug in the cultural leakage of society by hiding behind the statistics of female infanticide. The infiltration of bollywood into a backyard of rich civilsation of bravery, pride and honour and sowing unscrupulous seeds of suspicion and cynicism makes a strong case of cultural pilferage. Once you have entered a terriority, you're not aware of it is better to tread softly instead of making remarks against projecting the country in bad light for its reservations against the film.

The academic history may not outline the role of Rajputana in India but it lives into the households of India where people inherit the legends of Padmavati as a testament of spirit, strength and faith of their ancestors. Neglecting these social values will trigger confrontation and rightly so it needs redressing the issue by taking the rajput leaders in confidence rather than bloating it with media muscle.