Rajput Karni Sena chief Lokendra Singh Kalvi on Friday told members of the community to gather in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh on January 27 to seek a complete ban on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Padmavati, PTI reported.
It will be a clear message “that the sacrifice of Rani Padmavati has not gone in vain”, Kalvi told reporters in Jaipur. “Anyone who supports our call of banning the film can join us in Chittorgarh.”
The community will not let the film release at any cost, Kalvi said, adding that it was time the central and state governments “set an example” by banning it. He also accused the Central Board of Film Certification of ignoring the expert panel that had reviewed the film and advised against releasing it.
Kalvi also claimed that Bhansali has repeatedly had different views on the basis of his film. He initially claimed that it was based on history, later called it a period drama, and is now saying it is fiction, he claimed. “Till now, he has not been able to clarify his point.”
Karni Sena’s national president Sukdev Singh Gogamedi said that the CBFC and the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre will be “solely responsible for the consequences” if the film is released, according to The Times of India.
Padmavati, starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, has been in the midst of a controversy since January 2017, when members of the Rajput Karni Sena assaulted Bhansali on the set of the movie in Jaipur. The shooting location was then changed to Maharashtra. The historical drama is based on the life of Rajput Queen Padmini, the protagonist of sixteenth-century poet Malik Muhammad Jaisi’s Avadhi epic poem Padmavat.
The Central Board of Film Certification has given the period production a UA certificate and recommended that the film be renamed Padmavat to avoid the suggestion that it explores the life and times of the fictional Chittor queen Padmini.
The movie was set to be released on December 1 but its co-producers Viacom18 Motion Pictures decided to “voluntarily defer” its release amid widespread protests and threats against Bhansali and Padukone. Rajput groups have said the film distorts history as it shows a romantic dream sequence between the queen and Alauddin Khilji – a claim that Bhansali has repeatedly denied.
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