NEW DELHI: Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, whose upcoming film ‘Samrat Prithviraj’, is all set to hit the theatres, has appealed to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to include in history textbooks stories related to Indian kings like Prithivi Raj and Maharana Pratap.
‘Prithviraj’, which is directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, is based on the life story of brave and mighty king Prithviraj Chauhan and portrays the great warrior’s valour and valiant fight against the cruel invader Muhammad Ghori.
In an exclusive interview to ANI, Akshay stated that Indian kings have hardly any mention about them in history textbooks whereas there is a major chunk on the “invaders”. “…Nobody is there to write about it…” said the actor.
“Unfortunately, in our history textbooks, there are two-three lines about Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan, but a lot has been mentioned about the invaders. There is hardly anything about our culture and our maharajas. I was taken aback that there is so much about Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan that we don’t know about.”
“I would like to appeal to the Education Minister to look into this matter and see if we can change it,” the actor said.
The superstar also urged for a “balance” in curricula to include information on Indian kings. “We can balance it. I am not saying we should not know about Mughals, but balance it out, know about kings also, they were great too. Bring it in front of everybody, our children will like to know about Maharana Pratap (the Mewar king), ” Akshay said.
On being asked whether he was questioned at home about why he chose to portray Prithviraj Chauhan and not Akbar or Tipu Sultan, Akshay added, “My son knows about British Empire, he knows about Mughals because he studied, but he didn’t know about Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan.”
The actor is currently on a promotional tour for ‘Prithviraj Samrat’ which also stars Miss India 2017 winner Manushi Chhillar, who is making her Hindi film debut with the movie. Sanjay Dutt and singer Sonu Sood are also cast in the period film that is scheduled for a theatrical release on June 3 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. (ANI)