Game of royalty

Jasmine Singh

As the release date of Hollywood film The Black Prince draws near, interest in the life of the brave yet lesser-known Maharaja Duleep Singh seems to be rising. The last maharaja of the Sikh empire and the youngest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh is surely making people sit-up. Now, an X-box digital game on him, The Last Maharaja-Assassain’s Creed Syndicate, is being played with great interest. The game features young Duleep Singh in a fictional adventure based character on his real-life struggle, as an exiled emperor in Victorian London.

Game on

Assassin’s Creed, as many Play Station lovers would know, is a franchise centred on an action adventure video game series developed by Ubisoft. The prince in this X-box game discovers the conspiracy of the East India Company of not letting him go back to India and to his mother. So, in the virtual world and in the real world, as we know, he fights! 

What is interesting is, however, how the makers are making him fight and earning bonus points!   “I don’t think, the young generation knows much about the prince; it is in fact the buzz of the film, which is making them scout for material on him,” shares professor Jatinder Singh from Government College for Men-11, Chandigarh. Jatinder also sees the virtual game as a step for the younger generation to understand the Black Prince. 

Leaf from history

Since only some documentaries - Maharaja Duleep Singh — The Thetford Ancient House Documentary, Maharaja Duleep Singh, A Sikh Maharaja, Maharaja Duleep Singh-A King in Exile — and well-written books chronicle his life, yet the curiosity to discover more has neither been shown on TV nor in films. The Black Prince is the first project, which unearths his story. Actor Satinder Sartaaj, who plays Maharaja Duleep Singh in the film, is also aware of the fact, “I read whatever I could lay my hands on, whatever could provide more information on the bold prince.” He adds that he was destined to play the role considering that he shares so many similarities with him. 

Truth beckons

Historians and Sikh scholars also agree to the fact that whatever they have read about Duleep Singh is less. All the same, modern Punjabi critic Tejwant Gill has a different take on it. “Sikhs haven’t talked much about him because when Duleep Singh requested the people in Punjab to collect money so that he could start a revolution, the idea was not liked much.” He suggests two more reads on him, Moian Sar Na Kai by Sant Singh Sekhon and Bera Bandh Na Sakio. “Sant Singh Sekhon’s book will give you fair idea about his career.” The Black Prince sure has generated curiosity!

jasmine@tribunemail.com