A cultural programme organised in Ahmedabad on Wednesday to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu included a dance performance on “Ghoomar”, a song from the controversial movie Padmaavat.
The incident comes days after a mob – believed to be members of the Rajput Karni Sena – vandalised a school in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam city after students performed on the song. A student was injured in the violence, and the police arrested four accused.
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhoopendra Singh on Wednesday said people should not take “matters into their own hands” even if “someone plays a banned song”. “Action must be taken against the culprits,” he told ANI. He, however, added that people should not play songs from Padmaavat as the government had banned the movie in the state.
Apart from Madhya Pradesh, the governments of Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan also banned the movie from the states. Producers of Padmaavat on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court against their decision.
Padmaavat was originally slated to be released on December 1. After much opposition, it will hit the screens on January 25.
Repeated protests and threats of violence by Rajput groups, led by the Rajput Karni Sena, stalled the movie’s release and delayed its certification. The censor board had appointed a panel of historians to look into the claim that the film contains historical inaccuracies. The movie was finally cleared with a few changes on the condition that Bhansali and Viacom18 Motion Pictures change the title from Padmavati to Padmaavat to align it closer to its source material.
Starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, the historical drama is based on the 16th century poem of the same name by Malik Muhammad Jaisi.
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