A petition by a group of people demanding a stay on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s mega period movie Padmavati has reached the Supreme Court.
Filed by advocate Somesh Chandra Jha, the petition is seeking a stay on the grounds that the film is hurting the Rajput community’s sentiments by misrepresenting historical facts.
The appellants are requesting the Supreme Court to step in as they allege that the film is depicting Rani Padmavati wrongfully causing widespread anger in the Rajput community and may result in law and order issues if released.
Why are the petitioners objecting to the movie ?
The petitioners who belong to the Rajput community are accusing the producers of the film of taking undue liberty and changing historical facts to cater to prurient interests.
- According to the petition the film’s trailer shows Rani Padmavati played by actress Deepika Padukone doing a Ghoomar dance which was not correct as the Queens do not do Ghoomar.
- Furthermore the dance movements and the excessive skin showed by the actress was hurtful to the sentiments of the Rajput community.
- Pointing out that Rani Padmavati was known to be highly pious, the petition states that the film was indulging in character assassination by showing the Queen as being in love with Ala-ud-din-Khilji and dreaming about him.
The petitioners have submitted that historical legends should be depicted in an accurate manner and creativity must not be given as a reason for sullying their images.
They also regretted in their petition that the film’s producers have stopped caring about India’s cultural history just to make profits. Such an attitude they said had created “great angst among Hindus” as well as within the Rajput community.
The petitioners are demanding that a committee comprising eminent historians be set up to review the film and vet it before its release. The movie is set to be open on December 1 across India .
‘Padmavati’ At Centre Of Controversy Since Beginning
The film Padmavati has been facing fierce opposition for several months now. Two Rajput community groups Rajput Karni Sena and Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha, have declared that they will oppose the film’s release.
On November 3, a largescale protest was held in the city of Chittorgarh in Rajasthan where thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the movie, resulting in schools and markets being closed as well as roads being blocked.
