Akshay Kumar: I hope Prithviraj becomes the most authentic reference point for the king's life

Akshay Kumar was all praise for the filmmaker, Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi.

Akshay Kumar in Prithviraj poster

The upcoming film, Prithviraj starring Akshay Kumar, is perhaps one of his most ambitious projects to date. The actor now hopes to familiarise the audience with Prithviraj Chauhan, the great warrior king who heroically fought Muhammad of Ghor in the second battle of Tarain in 1192. In a historical drama, research is vital, and filmmaker Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi sought to bring an honest retelling to the big screen after spending 18 years researching the subject.

The director told Mid Day that research is always the first stage in making a lavish historical film, and they wanted to be perfectly correct. From 2004 through 2019, Dwivedi worked on the script himself, upgrading it every year. Naturally, he had a wealth of material to draw from while writing the final script of the film. Before production began, various books, a range of clothing that were utilised as references, armour and weaponry were brought into the studio.

When producer Aditya Chopra realised the crew had amassed a sizable archive of literature and artefacts, he turned an entire floor of the Yash Raj Films Studios in Andheri into a study wing. Dwivedi revealed that they kept the research facility completely operational until the last day of the shoot. They are currently devising a strategy to publicise the research findings.

Kumar has recently starred in a few historical dramas, such as Kesari (2019) and Gold (2018), bringing India's untold stories to the big screen. The actor shared that when Dwivedi narrated the film for him, Akshay was taken aback by the amount of research that the filmmaker did in writing this film. Khiladi praised the director for his exhaustive research. It's not easy to write and direct a historical film.

The Bachchhan Paandey actor went on to say that Dwivedi nurtured and made Prithviraj the most spectacular retelling of Samrat's life over 18 years. Akshay hopes it will become the most reliable source of information about the king's life.

Sanjay Dutt, Sonu Sood, and former Miss World Manushi Chhillar also star in the period drama. The trailer for Prithviraj will be out on April 9, 2022, and the film will be released on June 3, 2022.

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