Rajat Sethi, a renowned novelist and public intellectual, has conducted extensive research that has allowed several hitherto hidden stripes of the Tiger of Mysore to come into the open.
The Filmmaker Sandeep Singh said, “I was shocked to learn the true reality of Tipu Sultan. The story gave me goosebumps. This is the cinema I personally believe in. Whether it’s PM Narendra Modi, SwatantryaVeer Savarkar, Atal or Bal Shivaji – my films stand for truth. I think people knew what a tyrant Tipu Sultan was but chose to ignore it. And this is exactly what I want to showcase on 70mm. Honestly, he doesn’t even deserve to be called a Sultan. I was brainwashed into believing him to be a braveheart as shown in our history textbooks. But nobody knows his malevolent side. I want to expose his dark side for the future generation.”
The Director Pawan Sharma said, “What we are taught in school about Tipu Sultan, is gross misinformation. As a Hindu, I stood absolutely shaken and disillusioned to know his reality as a bigoted Muslim king. Through my film, I am daring to show a brutal reality that which has been manipulated just for us to take him to be a warrior hero. He had forced the conversion of people who practised other religions, to Islam and destroyed temples and churches. Tipu Sultan’s Islamic fanaticism was much worse than his father’s, Hyder Ali Khan’s. He was a Hitler of that era.”
Rajat Sethi said, “While history has been unkind to many heroes, it has mischievously ignored the tyranny of many others. Tipu is one such historical figure whose adulation and admiration is overrated, while his cruelties have been neatly concealed in our textbooks. Not only history but popular culture – movies, theatres etc. – have also systematically ignored a realistic and balanced portrayal of Tipu. This movie is a humble attempt to initiate a course correction on his narrative.”
Pawan Sharma will helm Tipu, which has financial support from Eros International, Rashmi Sharma Films, and Sandeep Singh. Rajat Sethi will conduct the research and development. The movie will be available in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and Kannada.