Akshay Kumar’s ambitious project Prithviraj has received a threat from the Karni Sena over its title. The YRF film is a biopic on emperor Prithviraj Chauhan and is directed by Chandraparaksh Dwivedi. Filmmaker Surjeet Singh Rathore, president of the Youth Wing of the Karni Sena, has put up three conditions for the film. It even warned that if Akshay and Aditya Chopra do not accept their demand, they will face a situation similar to Sanjay Leela Bhansali during Padmaavat.
Sharing clippings of news articles on his Instagram page, Rathore wrote in Hindi that the organisation respects Akshay Kumar. He added that producer Aditya Chopra should respect the last ‘Hindu Samrat’ and use his name with the due respect. He warned that otherwise consequences would be the same as they were during Padmaavat’s release. And that YRF would be responsible for all the losses.
He put out his three conditions, which included, ‘screening of the film before its release’, ‘the film be shown to the Rajput society’, and the ‘title of the film to have the full name — Veer Yoddha Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan’.
In another post, Surjeet Singh Rathore added that the country and world should be shown Emperor Prithviraj Chauhan’s life through this film. Pressing the demand of using ‘Chauhan’ again in the title, he wrote that they honour Akshay Kumar and he would be proud that he has played the role of Prithviraj Chauhan.
12th century Indian monarch Prithviraj Chauhan ruled present-day Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. On his birthday in 2019, Akshay Kumar had made the announcement sharing a short teaser of the film. He wrote, “Elated to share about my 1st historical film on my birthday!Humbled to have the opportunity to play a hero I look up to for his valor & values- Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan in one of my biggest films #Prithviraj. Producer @yrf ,director #DrChandraprakashDwivedi, releasing Diwali 2020.” Due to the pandemic, the film’s production got affected and now, it’s scheduled to hit cinema halls this year on November 5.
In a statement, Akshay Kumar also mentioned, “It is truly an honour that I will be playing the role of one of the most fearless and courageous kings of India, Prithviraj Chauhan. As a nation, we should always celebrate our heroes and immortalize what they did to propagate the values that Indians lived by. Prithviraj is our attempt to bring to light his valour and daredevilry. Prithviraj was the only person standing in front of a merciless nemesis and the bravery he showed, made him a true Indian hero, an inspiration for generations and a legend. So this announcement coming on my birthday has indeed made it more special for me.”
The historical saga will see Miss Universe Manushi Chillar paired opposite Akshay. The ensemble cast also features actors like Sanjay Dutt, Sonu Sood, Ashutosh Rana, Sakshi Tanwar, Manav Vij and Lalit Tiwari.