Bengaluru: After the release of "The Kashmir Files" and "The Kerala Story", another right-wing propaganda movie has been announced. The upcoming movie named "Tipu" will be based on the life of Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan.

According to a report from the Times of India, the movie is being backed by Eros International, Rashmi Sharma Films, and Sandeep Singh. It will be directed by Pawan Sharma and researched and developed by author, Rajat Sethi.

The teaser of the movie was recently released wherein Tipu has been portrayed as a ‘Jihadi’ and ‘Tyrant’ ruler who killed, imprisoned and forcefully converted to Islam, several Hindu families.

Despite being celebrated by many as a brave warrior and a freedom fighter, his legacy is still hotly debated, with some groups seeing him as a hero while others view him as a tyrant. The right-wing fringe groups in the recent years have used Tipu for polarization and to create communal divide between the communities. The announcement of the film "Tipu" is likely to stir up further controversy and ignite debates over Tipu Sultan's true legacy.

Speaking about the project, 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."

Director Pawan Sharma added, "What we are taught in school about Tipu Sultan is gross misinformation. Through my film, I am daring to show a brutal reality that has been manipulated just for us to take him to be a warrior hero."

Meanwhile, Rajat Sethi stated, "Tipu is one such historical figure whose adulation and admiration is overrated, while his cruelties have been neatly concealed in our textbooks. This movie is a humble attempt to initiate a course correction on his narrative."

The movie will be released in five languages - Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.

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Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): 'Jai Bhim': These two words have come to symbolise the awakening and empowerment of the Dalit community in independent India, but not many people know how it originated.

The slogan, which also encapsulates the immense reverence in which Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is held, was first raised at the Makranpur Parishad, a conference organised at Makranpur village in Kannad teshil of today's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra.

Ambedkar, the chief architect of India's Constitution, died on December 6, 1956.

Bhausaheb More, the first president of the Scheduled Castes Federation of Marathwada, organised the first Makranpur Parishad on December 30, 1938.

Dr Ambedkar spoke at the conference and asked the people not to support the princely state of Hyderabad under which much of central Maharashtra then fell, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Pravin More, Bhausaheb's son.

"When Bhausaheb stood up to speak, he said every community has its own deity and they greet each other using the name of that deity. Dr Ambedkar showed us the path of progress, and he is like God to us. So henceforth, we should say 'Jai Bhim' while meeting each other. The people responded enthusiastically. A resolution accepting 'Jai Bhim' as the community's slogan was also passed," More told PTI.

"My father came in contact with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in his early years. Bhausaheb was aware of the atrocities the Nizam state committed on Dalits. He told Ambedkar about these atrocities, including the pressure to convert. Dr Ambedkar was strongly against these atrocities, and he decided to attend the 1938 conference," he said.

As Ambedkar was against the princely states, he was banned from giving speeches in the Hyderabad state but was allowed to travel through its territories. The Shivna river formed the border between Hyderabad and British India. Makranpur was chosen as the venue for the first conference because it was on the banks of Shivna but lay in the British territory, ACP More said.

The stage made of bricks, from where Dr Ambedkar addressed the conference, still stands. The conference is organised on December 30 every year to carry forward Ambedkar's thought, and the tradition was not discontinued even in 1972 when Maharashtra experienced one of the worst droughts in it history.

"My grandmother pledged her jewellery for the conference expenses. People from Khandesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada attended it. Despite a ban imposed by the Nizam's police, Ambedkar's followers crossed the river to attend the event," said ACP More.

"This is the 87th year of Makranpur Parishad. We have deliberately retained the venue as it helps spread Ambedkar's thought in rural areas," he added.