SS Rajamouli trolled for ‘distorting’ history in ‘RRR’ teaser of Jr NTR

“Horrible distortion: Director Rajamouli is making a 400 crore film on the great freedom fighter Komaram Bheem, who fought against Islαmist Nizam and his Jihαdi Razakar army. Why is he shown wearing a skull cap? Such blatant falsehood in the name of history!” 

These are the words of True Indology, a history scholar, about the teaser of ‘RRR’ featuring Jr NTR. As is known, the Nandamuri actor has been portrayed as a skull cap-wearing character in the teaser. As per the scholar, Komaram Bheem’s own daughter was abducted and converted by Nizam’s Taluqdar Abdul Sattar.  

Following True Indology’s tweet, several social media users have questioned the director. Reacting to the criticism, M Nageswara Rao, former CBI director, appealed to the ‘Baahubali’ director to know that artistic freedom does not mean freedom with the truth. “Bollywood lost credibility because of that. Please don’t take offence. I draw your attention so that truth alone prevails in your movies,” he said on Twitter. 

But there is a contrarian view. Says @TollyCinemaGuy: “Most of the rebel leaders who opted for guerilla warfare methods dress in disguise for survival tactics and when they are about to attack.” 

It has to be seen why Jr NTR sports the Islamic skull cap in ‘RRR’ in the first place. If he wanted to be there in disguise, the director may be said to have indulged in carte blance. For now, a debate has been sparked around history, Bheem, artistic freedom and tokenism.