Union Home Minister Amit Shah termed the reign of 12 th century ruler of Delhi Prithviraj Chauhan as a “padaav” or stage of Indian history which went for more than a thousand years till August 1947 when the country gained Independence, and also stated that the “cultural revival” taking place in the country since 2014 would once again take the country to great heights.
He was speaking at the pre-release screening of the film Samrat Prithviraj held in New Delhi on Wednesday evening. The film, directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi under the Yash Raj films banner, stars actors Akshay Kumar and Manushi Chhillar in the main lead. The film is based on the long ballad “Prithviraj Raso” composed by the bard at Prithviraj’s court, Chand Bardai, and depicts the battles between Chauhan and Mohammad Ghori, notably the two battles of Taraori or Tarain as it is known in popular culture. The defeat of Prithviraj in the second battle of Taraori proved a turning point in ushering in the Delhi Sultanate.
Interestingly, the top brass of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, including sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat and second in command Dattatreya Hosabele, will attend a special screening of the film on Friday evening. Clearly, the Sangh Parivar has extended its support for the film, which will be part of a trilogy by Akshay Kumar, the next two being on festival of Raksha Bandhan and on Ram Setu.
