Chaudhry Fawad Hussain slams Sanjay Dutt's 'Panipat'

Many came forward and criticised Bollywood's lazy distortion of history

Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Kapoor and Kriti Sanon-starrer Panipat recently dropped its trailer. The film, based on the Battle of Panipat, sees Kapoor as Sadashiv Rao Bhau, Dutt as Ahmad Shah Abdali and Sanon as Parvati Bai.

But the clip has garnered conflicting reviews. Many have called out the director Ashutosh Gowarikar to be distorting history, one of them being Pakistan federal minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain.

Hussain was responding to a tweet by Reema Omer in which she had criticised Bollywood's lazy depiction of Muslim history and its rulers. "With Panipat, Bollywood’s troubling (and painfully lazy) trope for depicting Muslim rulers/invaders as barbaric savages continue," she wrote. "Also, if the trailer is anything to go by, the film really couldn’t have come at a worse time (or day:  December 6, when Babri Masjid was demolished)."

With #Panipat, Bollywood’s troubling (and painfully lazy) trope for depicting Muslim rulers/invaders as barbaric savages continues

Also, if the trailer is anything to go by, the film really couldn’t have come at a worse time (or day: 6 Dec, when Babri masjid was demolished) pic.twitter.com/GdtZsm1N7j

— Reema Omer (@reema_omer) November 11, 2019

To this, Hussain added his own thoughts. "When idiots try to rewrite history under RSS influence, this is the minimum one should expect. Agay agay deikheiye hota hai kiya. (See what happens even further)."

When idiots try to rewrite history under RSS influence this is minimum one should expect, agay agay deikheiye hota hai kiya..... https://t.co/IecnORvomx

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) November 11, 2019

Ex Afghani presidential candidate, Dr Shaida Arif, also weighed in on Dutt's portrayal of Abdali and how Indian cinema has played around with the country's ties with Afghanistan in their films. "Dear Sanjay Dutt jee: Historically, the Indian cinema has been extremely instrumental in strengthening the Indo-Afghan ties. I very much hope that Panipat has kept that fact in mind while dealing with this important episode of our shared history!"

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! https://t.co/8HKLei2ce1

— Dr Shaida Abdali シャイダ・アブダリ博士 (@ShaidaAbdali) November 4, 2019

Another user shared how Panipat is just another film of Muslim leaders being portrayed as barbaric. "Panipat is Bollywood’s another attempt to present Muslim rulers as barbaric," the user shared.

#Panipat is Bollywood’s another attempt to present Muslim rulers as barbaric pic.twitter.com/2JIsFaXXUV

— Awakened (@awakened_me) November 11, 2019

Earlier, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus Padmaavat was also called out for Ranveer Singh's character, who played Alauddin Khilji in the film.

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