Historians cross swords with a new show whose script
they say is littered with errors. M. Radhika reports
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In
The Spotlight: Readying for the show
Photos S. Radhakrishna |
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‘The
script was revised four times. And we have not ignored the Wodeyar
dynasty,’
says director Nagabharana |
The new ‘sound
and light’ show made for the famous Mysore Palace has left historians
and conservationists indignant. The show is being seen as a snub to the
Wodeyars, the royal dynasty which ruled the erstwhile Mysore state. Produced
at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore, the show is meant to increase the tourist flow
to the royal palace and to the heritage city of Mysore.
The palace, also known as
Amba Vilas Palace, attracts over 4.5 million visitors annually, a number
that is growing steadily. Mysore has many heritage attractions like
Jaganmohan Palace that houses the world famous Ravi Verma paintings,
the Chamundi Hill temple, and the mausoleums of Tipu Sultan and Hyder
Ali.
The experts are
mainly critical of the show because of what they see as extreme carelessness
about historical facts and the exclusion of the Mysore royal family
in the script. The film omits important information like the fact that
like palace was rebuilt in 1897 after the earlier structure was destroyed
in a fire. Some experts have reportedly commented on the film’s
Leftist slant, which exalts Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali but neglects the
important contribution of the Wodeyars in modernising and ushering in
progressive ideas in the region’s history — their contribution
towards women’s emancipation, for instance.
Srikantadatta Narasimharaja
Wodeyar, the scion of the royal family, has reportedly complained about
the script to government officials. “We have nothing personal
against anyone. But something is certainly wrong when a script meant
to deal with the history of Mysore says that the Brindavan Gardens were
built by Sir M. Visveswaraiah. He engineered the Krishnarajsagar dam,
but Sir Mirza Ismail, the dewan of Mysore, laid out the gardens,”
says Krishna Vattam, convenor of the Indian National Trust for Art and
Cultural Heritage.
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Majesty
Sullied? Srikantadatta Wodeyar |
The script for the
show was written by Lingadevaru Halemamane, an academician, and directed
by the acclaimed Kannada filmmaker TS Nagabharana, who has directed
sound-and-light films for other historical monuments including the Golconda
fort in Hyderabad.
Nagabharana denies
that there is a problem. “No such controversy has come to me.
The script was revised four times. And we have not ignored the Wodeyar
dynasty. The historians may be talking about the first version of the
script,” he says. He says the show is ready from his end, and
that the government has approved it.
Vattan, however,
faults the script for slighting the Wodeyars. “You may have your
own dislike for royalty and monarchy. But it need not get reflected
in a script like this — the script has ignored the contribution
of Wodeyar rulers altogether. In truth, they were responsible for modernising
Mysore state even during the British rule,” he says.
Many see a political
angle to the whole incident. A member of the Congress party, Srikantadatta
Wodeyar lost in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from Mysore to the BJP
candidate. The state is currently ruled by a JD(S) - BJP coalition.
BIASED
HISTORY |
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| • |
The
Amba Vilas Palace attracts 4.5 million visitors annually |
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The
sound and light show ignores the contribution of the Wodeyars |
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It
has got important historical facts wrong |
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Director
Nagabharana refutes charges and says critics haven’t
seen the final version |
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Government
officials say the script is being revised |
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“The script
begins with the Wodeyars. Srikantadatta Wodeyar may have got less importance,
but the show doesn’t just deal with the Mysore Palace. It spans
the history of Mysore with the Wodeyar dynasty,” Nagabharana says.
Earlier, the heritage-conscious
people of Mysore had locked horns with the state tourism department
over the concrete structure built for the light-and-sound show within
the palace premises. The structure was ugly, people said. Some tourists
had also found it unaesthetic.
The government officials
say that the script is being revised keeping in mind objections by historians
and conservationists. Nagabharana says once historians, conservationists
and the public view the show, they will definitely like it. The light-and-sound
show was originally meant to be aired in 2003, but got delayed due to
unspecified reasons.
