In this movie, actor Sanjay Dutt plays the role of Ahmad Shah Abdali, the founder of the Durrani Empire in Afghanistan.
New Delhi … News Time
There is a debate in Afghanistan about a film being released in India in December next month. Many Afghans are worried about how Ahmad Shah Abdali will be portrayed in the film. There is a debate in Afghanistan about a film being released in India in December next month. The public opinion on social media in Afghanistan is split in regards to the poster and trailer for the movie “Panipat”.The film, released on December 6, stars Sanjay Dutt as the founder of the Durrani Empire, Ahmad Shah Abdali, in Afghanistan. It depicts events occurring during the historic Battle of Panipat between the Abdali and Maratha armies of India in 1761.
Some Facebook and Twitter users in Afghanistan have warned Indian filmmakers and administrators not to portray the role of Abdali in a negative way. In fact, Abdali is called the Afghan honor ‘Ahmad Shah Baba’. Ahmad Shah Abdali is also known as the founder of modern Afghanistan, Tariq Atta of BBC Monitoring said. A user named Abdullah Noori tweeted: ‘Dear Bollywood, I am from Afghanistan and am a millionaire like millions of Afghans. Sanjay Dutt is my favorite actor. I hope there is no humiliation of Ahmad Shah Abdali in the movie Panipat. ‘However, some other users called it a premature reaction and have also appealed to various points of view about the historical role of Ahmad Shah Abdali. Mohammad Qasim Akbar Safi commenting on a post on this topic by Shamshad TV of Pashto language wrote: ‘Ahmad Shah Baba is our hero. We are proud of them. However, they (Indians) suffered a lot in the war. They are not heroes for them.
Demand for Film Investigation
In another comment on Shamshad TV’s Facebook post, Aga Safi wrote: It would be better to investigate this movie before release. The original post also calls for a ‘probe’ of the film and has been shared 70 times till the news is written. Commenting on a poster released on Twitter by Sanjay Dutt a day earlier, former Afghanistan Ambassador to India, Shaida Abdali, tweeted: Dear Sanjay Dutt, Historic Indian Cinema India. There has been a tradition of strengthening Afghanistan’s relations. I hope that the movie ‘Panipat’ has kept this in mind about this important development of our shared history.
On the other hand, Naseem Sharifi, the Afghanistan Consulate’s official in Mumbai, tweeted that for the past year and a half, Afghan diplomats in India have been trying not to offend Ahmed Shah Baba in the movie Panipat. No Afghan can afford it. Sanjay Dutt has convinced me that if Ahmad Shah Baba’s character was bad, he would not play it.
Appeal to accept the facts:
Commenting on Shamshad TV’s post, Faiz Haqqani wrote: If this (film) is based on facts, I strongly support that it should be released. While tweeting about Ahmed Shah Abdali, Ghafran Wasiq wrote: There is no doubt that Ahmad Shah Abdali was an attacker and it is not a matter of pride.
