Historical flicks are produced to educate the youth about the rich history of one’s country. While Hollywood has a record of showing everything from America’s point of view, yet it manages to aptly show many of the historical events as it was. Whereas Bollywood loves to romanticize everything, from Ashoka The Great to Akbar The Great, we majorly focus on love stories.
Here is a list of Historical Flicks of Bollywood that could have been better:
Mohenjo Daro (2016)
IMDb Rating: 5.7/10
Available on: Netflix
Mohenjo Daro is one of the historical flicks that majorly inspired me to write this article. If Mr. Gowariker really had to make a movie on Mohenjo Daro, he should have gone for a documentary. Because even the archeologists haven’t been able to deduce it aptly. The language of the Indus Valley Civilization is unknown as it was pictographic and hasn’t been deciphered yet. Gowariker’s interpretation of Mohenjo Daro is similar to that of a school kid trying to write a fairy tale. Plus making Hrithik Roshan the so=called heir of Mohnejo Daro was the stupidest. Additionally, Indus Valley Civilization wasn’t destroyed in a day, it was gradual destruction. So the climax of the movie is super flawed. And just for Mr. Gowariker’s information, the distance between Indus and Ganga is 1313km. In between there are many rivers, plus the now Gangetic plain used to have thick forests, so showing that the people of Mohenjo Daro traveled until they reached Ganga was again stupid.
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019)
IMDb Rating: 6.4/10
Available on: Amazon Prime
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi is a comparatively better take on History but Kangana Ranaut got too much into the film that she forgot that Manikarnika Tambe was only 14 when she married Maharaja Gangadhar Rao of Jhansi. In no way was Kangana looking like a 14-year old. The movie blows history to smithereens and lessens the Rani of Jhansi, one of the greatest warriors India has ever known, to a stunt queen, setting the film in the bargain into an outright travesty of cinema. The story of the queen’s short but glorious life deserves a movie all right but a much better one than this.
Jodha Akbar (2008)
IMDb Rating: 7.6/10
Available on: Netflix
Jodha Akbar is one of those historical flicks which you can proudly show to the people abroad to tell them about the rich culture of India. Even though the movie has been beautifully made with all the events captured very beautifully giving history a Disney-ish feel, it is mostly a fictionalized take on Akbar and the legendary Jodha Bai, his queen consort. Also, a part of the audience really wanted Mr. Gowariker to show the policies of Akbar in detail because some of them were worth the attention.
Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005)
IMDb Rating: 6.6/10
Available on: Hotstar
Mangal Pandey: The Rising is a biographical drama film based on one of the first freedom fighters of Indian History, Mangal Pandey, the man who caused the revolt of 1857. The only thing that the makers meddled with were the dates shown in the movie. Additionally, showing the love story of Mangal Pandey and a Muslim sex worker kinda offended the Upper Caste audience. As a result, it didn’t receive a good response in Uttar Pradesh which was supposedly the prime location of the film.
Bajirao Mastani (2015)
IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
Available on: JioCinema
Bajirao Mastani was a huge commercial success but the trouble is the story of Peshwa Bajirao I and his second wife Mastani is entirely fictional. While Mastani absolutely was his wife, historians say there is limited to glean from reliable sources about who she was, or even about the quality of their relationship. Bajirao is generally recognized by historians as the greatest Maratha ruler since Shivaji and is the best famous of the nine Maratha Peshwas. Mastani was the daughter of Maharaja Chhatrasal, a Bundela Rajput who established the state of Panna in Bundelkhand, and his Persian wife Ruhaani Bai. She and her father were followers of the Pranami sect, a Bhakti sampradaya that does not discriminate between caste or religion. Chhatrasal proffered Mastani to Bajirao as a wife along with a third of his revenue after Bajirao supported him defeat an invading Mughal chieftain from Allahabad around 1727.
Lagaan (2001)
IMDb Rating: 8.1/10
Available on: Netflix
Lagaan is not based on a true story. The year set in the movie i.e, 1893 was a time when cricket wasn’t even played by Indians. But, according to IMDB, Lagaan has many similarities to an old Bollywood film Bhuvan Shome released in 1969 like both the films have the same narrator.
Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior (2020)
IMDb Rating: 7.6/10
Available on: Hotstar
Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior is a really splendid movie and it’s a great initiative to let the youth know about such heroes of history that didn’t get much representation. Yet, there were many historical inaccuracies in the movie. Back in the time of Marathas, there were political wars and not communal. And if that was the case then all Hindus should have gone towards Shivaji Maharaj and all Muslims, towards Mughals. But Shivaji Maharaj had a good number of Muslim soldiers in his army. The film has displayed a scene in which the Muslim commander enters the fort and stops Jijamata from performing a puja. The commander orders them to clear the fort. At this time, Jijamata declares that she will not wear any footwear until the Marathas win Kondhana again. This scene has no mention in history. There is no historical proof that says that there was an ‘Om’ symbol in the flag at the time of Shivaji Maharaj. Shivaji Maharaj’s flag was saffron-colored but he fought for the welfare of all people. He was not involved in religious hostility. He was a rationalist. He used to rely on karma. He never saw a fortune-teller to know the future. Also if we give some cinematic freedom, how can Tanhaji’s wife be donning a nose ring? The medieval Maratha women never wore nose rings. There are many such historical inaccuracies in the movie.
Asoka (2001)
IMDb Rating: 6.5/10
Available on: Netflix
Asoka, a fictionalized account of the life and times of the Mauryan emperor who renounced war and converted to Buddhism. While the movie has aptly covered the ferocious side of Ashoka The Great, the makers couldn’t resist themselves from adding a love story to the plot. Also, it is believed that Ashoka’s first wife was a merchant’s daughter but in the movie, they showed that she was a daughter of a Buddhist priest.
Bollywood should keep making historical flicks but should not forget to show events accurately. You can check out some educational movies by clicking here.
