When history morphs into mythology

By

Randeep Wadehra

Electronics media is the god of 21^st century – omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent as far as dealing with people’s mindscapes is concerned. Chronicling events was never a strong tradition in India till the dawn of modern era. This becomes apparent from the way the itihasa has been written, interpreted and presented over the millennia – an infirmity that’s being turned into a commercial formula of sorts by assorted entertainment TV channels.

Understandably, the makers of mythological serials like Jai Jai Bajrang Bali! (Sahara One), Shree Krishna and Jai Ma Vaishno Devi (Star Utsav), Dwarkadhish – Krishna (NDTV Imagine) and Devon ke Dev – Mahadev (Life OK) are following the lucrative trail blazed by Bollywood’s Chopras and Sagars who had raked in moolah and fame through epic-based TV serials. One can also forgive them for not showing interest in exploring the possibility of various epic characters being historical and not mythical who had actually lived in Vedic and/or pre-Vedic times. For this, intellectual rigour and desire for taking financial risks are essential. With “safety first” as their credo the beaten path becomes alluring.

But, what one cannot understand is the manner in which real historical persons and events are being depicted. Take Veer Shivaji, currently on the Colours channel. Its dialogues, professed philosophy and even battles – especially the armed combats between the protagonist (invariably alone) and his enemy (invariably a dozen or more)  – are suspiciously similar to those of Jhansi Ki Rani that used to be telecast on Zee TV until 2011. The hero cart-wheeling, somersaulting and back-flipping amidst swordfights, or leaping to heights that would be the envy of any Olympic high-jumper/pole-vaulter, can be taken as a part of creative license but surely not historical facts; the facts that have been recorded by various authentic chroniclers – some of which have been burnt or vandalized, if one goes by media reports. Reinventing Shivaji as the icon of Swarajya concept is to do great injustice to its progenitor, Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Similarly, Rani Lakshmi Bai was depicted as a patriot par excellence in the Zee TV serial when, in reality, she was fighting to save her kingdom from annexation by the British East India Company. Again, in Chandragupta Maurya (NDTV Imagine) we see Chanakya talking of Akhand Bharat. Actually, patriotism had never been such a strong sentiment among various royals. But then, in the interest of promoting patriotism and a certain ideology, liberties have been taken with historical facts quite often. For example, the much acclaimed Chanakya serial on DD National was ideologically biased towards the rightist nationalist sentiment. The protagonist’s frequent invocation of Ma Bharti and the profusion of saffron shibboleths, more in tune with today’s Indian politics, left no one in doubt about Prakash Dwivedi’s inclinations. Contrarily, slant towards leftist ideology was much in evidence in history-inspired serials like Bhishm Sahni’s Tamas (DD National) wherein the RSS bore the brunt of onus for the partition eve violence. Unbiased historical TV serials have been rare. One can recall only one, viz., Shyam Benegal’s Bharat Ek Khoj. Or, are there more?

Published in The Tribune on April 15, 2012