The face of intolerance. Even as the release of "Padmavati" was deferred, three more Chief Ministers jumped into the controversy with Madhya Pradesh's Shivraj Singh Chouhan announcing a ban on the film in his state, while his Punjab counterpart Amarinder Singh backed the Rajput community in its protests against Sanjay Leela Bhansali's historical drama that is mired in controversy. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje too said that the film will not be released in Rajasthan until necessary changes are made.
However, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described the controversy as “unfortunate” and a “calculated plan” to destroy the freedom of expression.
At Jammu and Kashmir, senior National Conference (NC) leader and MLA Devender Rana urged Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to ban the release of “Padmavati” in the state.
The chief minister’s waded into the controversy after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath and his Rajasthan counterpart opposed the release of the film citing the threat of serious law and order problem.
The film has been mired in controversy over conjectures that it “distorts history” regarding Rajput queen Padmavati, a contention that Bhansali has repeatedly denied.
Chouhan announced in Bhopal after a meeting with Rajput groups that the film has “distorted history” and thus cannot be allowed for “release” in his state.
“If historical facts are distorted, and if anything is shown or said in the movie against the respect of the country’s mother Padmavatiji, then that movie cannot be allowed to release in the land of Madhya Pradesh,” Chouhan said, eliciting a rousing applause from the audience.
“And I am saying this because people of the country and Madhya Pradesh cannot accept disrespect of their pride,” the BJP leader added.
“The insult will not be tolerated,” Chouhan said.
He said even if the movie is passed by the Censor Board for release in the country, it won’t make it to the screens in the state.
Amarinder Singh, in his comments, said: “Anything that is a historical event… no one will object. But here they are distorting history,” Singh told reporters.
“I have also gone to Chittor and returned and seen all things there… So, this is a distortion of history and no one will accept it.”
“And if communities are objecting to it then it is their right to object,” the Punjab Chief Minister added.
In a letter addressed to Mehbooba Mufti, Rana said: “The release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Padmavati’ is likely to hurt the sentiments of a particular community/religion and thus holds the potential to disrupt peace in Jammu region.”
He said he was for a ban on the movie in the state as many delegations from across Jammu region had approached him on the issue in the last couple of days.
The comments come a day after the release of “Padmavati” was “voluntarily” deferred from its scheduled date of December 1.
On Sunday, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, had said the film would not be allowed to release in the state unless its “controversial portions were removed”.
Even Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had on Saturday written to Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani to ensure that “Padmavati” is not released without necessary changes.
But, Mamata Banerjee condemned the ongoing controversy, labelling it as “unfortunate” and a “calculated plan” to destroy freedom of expression.
“The #Padmavati controversy is not only unfortunate but also a calculated plan of a political party to destroy the freedom to express ourselves. We condemn this super emergency,” Banerjee tweeted.
The Trinamool Congress supremo exhorted the film industry to protest in unison. “All in the film industry must come together and protest in one voice.”
Some Hindu groups, mainly the Karni Sena of Rajasthan, have been vigorously protesting against the movie’s release while some political outfits have demanded that its release be deferred in view of the Gujarat Assembly elections.
“Padmavati” features Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles.
Deepika Padukone has pulled out of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), that will have US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the inauguration on November 28.
A senior official of Telangana government said on Monday that Deepika has withdrawn her name from the event.
She had earlier confirmed her participation, the official said.
He, however, said the reason for her pulling out of the event is not known.
The actress was one of the speakers at a session on ‘Hollywood to Nollywood to Bollywood: The Path to Moviemaking’.
The Nigerian film industry is popularly referred as Nollywood.
Being co-hosted by the US and India, the GES, with the theme ‘Women First, Prosperity for All’, will bring together 1,500 entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem supporters from around the world for two-and-a-half days of training and mentoring.
US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the inaugural session on November 28.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court rejected a plea seeking to restrain the release of controversial film “Padmavati”, saying that it is premature and would amount to pre-judging the matter.
The reaction of a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra came after it was told that the Central Board of Film Certification has yet to clear the film.
“‘Padmavati’ has not yet received certification from CBFC. In view of this, our interference will tantamount to pre-judging the matter. We don’t intend to do so,” the court said in its order, rejecting the plea to block the release of the movie.
The court order came on a plea by advocate M.L. Sharma, seeking to block the release of the film, till objectionable scenes were deleted. He also sought institution of a criminal case against Bhansali.
Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Prasoon Joshi said the Board was trying to follow a process of dialogue vis-a-vis the stalemate surrounding Padmavati.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the inaugural function of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) near Panaji, Joshi said: “We are trying to follow processes. Instead of arguments, attempts are being made to have a dialogue on the issue.”
Shahid Kapoor, who has also acted in the controversial film, said stopping the release of the film would set a precedent which he would not be “proud” of, adding that he had to suffer a similar ordeal with his earlier film “Udta Punjab”.
“It will be a precedent which I am not proud of if the film finds it difficult to release… I went through a similar process in ‘Udta Punjab’,” Kapoor told reporters on the sidelines of IFFI.
He also said that a film was made for the entire country and that the country should see the film and decide, instead of some people or groups. (IANS)