Reacting to BJP warning for making film on Tipu Sultan ‘the Tiger of Mysore’, Producer Ashok Kheny said “It is my dream project, and I will not move back”.
“Tipu was neither anti Tamil nor anti Hindu,these politicians are only out to seek publicity”, he said.
“I have discussed about the idea of doing a movie with Rajinikanth, because Tipu’s story was suppressed by British.He had asked me to come out with a script and even he is excited”, the producer said.
On threats from Hindu outfits, he said, “Elephants walk and dogs bark.” “I don’t know why they are doing all this. If Tipu Sultan was such a divisive figure then why do we have lessons on him for our children? They are doing it just to create controversy, he added.
“History shows that he had Hindu temples in his court towards which he showed highest regard, many of his close confidants were Hindus, with all these how can he be anti- Hindu?,” he asked. If he was anti-Hindu, why would he keep a temple inside his fort and pray there?” he added.
“It was Tipu who opened trade routes to Persia and several other countries. He had even approached the American rulers to defeat British”, he further added.
It is to be noted that, BJP and some other hardline outfits called Tipu Sultan an anti-Tamil, and allegedly warned Rajinikanth playing a lead role in the film.
BJP leader L Ganesan even claimed that “Tipu was an aggressor, who committed maximum atrocities against Hindus. However Rajinikanth had clearly not given his nod to the project.