Author Amish Tripathi, best known for The Shiva Trilogy and Ram Chandra Series, is one of the fastest-selling authors in Indian publishing history. He recently launched his latest book, The Chola Tigers: Avengers of Somnath. During the event, he spoke up about Bollywood’s misportrayal of historical figures, especially invaders like Alauddin Khilji, Akbar, Aurangzeb, and others.
Talking about the issue, he strongly criticised Bollywood’s portrayal of such rulers, stating that by casting actors like Ranveer Singh, Hrithik Roshan, and Akshaye Khanna for the roles, filmmakers make them seem “relatable and homegrown,” which is not the case. He added that the portrayal is “not true” as they all were from the “steppes of Central Asia.”
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Quoted by News18, Tripathi added, “If we actually travelled back in time and saw them, to us they would look Chinese. They weren’t Chinese. They are the same people who conquered and devastated China as well.” Referring to how British rulers in films are often foreigners who speak English, he dismissed the fact that the invaders spoke Urdu as shown in movies.
The 50-year-old author said, “When we see a British ruler in films, it’s clear he is foreign. He looks foreign, but he speaks English. But Khilji is shown as Ranveer Singh speaking Urdu, which makes him seem relatable and homegrown. That’s not accurate.”
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According to the Amish, such wrong portrayals lead to people associating invasion with Indian Muslims rather than foreign rulers. Explaining his point further, the author explained, “They were foreigners, just like the British. Our history books and popular culture often fail to clarify that.”
Shedding light on his book, Amish Tripathi said, “The Indic Chronicles is my interpretation of the story of the last 1,300 years. Our history, as we study it today, was largely written by the British Raj. They had their own agenda — and sadly, that agenda continued post-1947.”