BJP speaks up, more pressure on Rajinikanth not to play Tipu Sultan on screen

Rajinikanth is Ashok Kheny's first choice to play Tipu Sultan

Staff correspondent, September 13, 2015, NewsCrunch

BJP has come out in support of Hindu Munnani, which has asked  Rajinikanth to steer clear of the Tipu Sultan movie, Karnataka MLA and entrepreneur Ashok Kheny is planning to produce.

Senior Tamil Nadu BJP leader L Ganesan told The Hindu that as Rajinikanth was a true patriot, he would not act in the movie.

He also supported Hindu Munnani leader Ramagopalan's view that Tipu Sultan was anti-Tamil, saying it was based on historical facts.
Ashok Kheny recently announced that he was reviving the stalled Tipu Sultan project and would try to get Rajinikanth to play the lead role. Even before Rajinikanth could react to the statement, Ramagopalan opposed the project saying Tipu Sultan had attacked Tamils during his rule.

In Karnataka, Tipu Sultan is a faultline that divides the  Hindutva and secular groups. The Hindutva groups  consider Tipu Sultan as a fanatic Muslim king, while the secular groups hold him as a progressive king, who fought the British seeking independence.

Ashok Kheny, the promoter of the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure corridor project, is known for his wealth and perseverance.

Three years ago he had told The Times of India that he wanted to make a grand movie on Tipu Sultan on the scale of Attenborough's Gandhi.

He had reportedly planned to approach Rajinikanth earlier as well, but could not do so as the actor was unwell at the time.