It is close to election time in India, and anything that can be communalized will be communalized. The story was written by Malik Mohammad Jayasi centuries ago. Rajputs who were for much of history allies of muslim rulers in Delhi and often married their women off to Mughals (most of the latter mughal kings were more rajput than mughal by blood) had no issues with the Padmavati until now, in Modi's India. Where growth rate has plummeted, corruption hasnt, and new campaign issues are being created on the basis of castes and religion.
**New Delhi: **Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period saga *Padmavat *(earlier Padmavati) has clearly dealt with more than its share of controversy but the film finally has a release date. The Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor-starrer will arrive in theatres on 25 January for the extended Republic Day weekend, a spokesperson from Viacom18 Motion Pictures, co-producer of Padmavat, said on condition of anonymity.
In November, the studio had voluntarily deferred the December release of the film as protests on its historical accuracy continued across the country.
“We’re looking to have an official announcement ideally later this week. The first thing was to put a release date out, we will now begin the marketing,” the person said.
The Republic Day weekend was a release window floating around for quite some time. While trade experts had ruled out that possibility until last week, given that both Akshay Kumar’s *Padman *and Neeraj Pandey-directed *Aiyyary *were scheduled for release then, the speculation had become stronger lately.
“The point is whether the producers will be adequately prepared to meet the 25th release date because the India release will be accompanied by an overseas release,” said film trade and exhibition expert Girish Johar. Out of the 5,500-odd workable screens in the country, Johar said *Padman *would have ideally blocked about 3,000 screens but will now only manage around 1,500. This means Padmavat, which would have also ideally got about 3,000-4,000 screens, will now get around 2,500 at the most.
Further, convincing individual state governments that have declared a ban on the film is an issue. Five states—Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar—have banned the film for now and Johar said they are all critical markets. To be sure, despite a clearance by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), a state is authorized to disallow the screening of a particular film. In the past, for instance, Aamir Khan’s *Fanaa *(2006) was banned in Gujarat after the actor took a stand on the Narmada Bachao Andolan issue.
Meanwhile, the Rajput Karni Sena has stuck to its demand for a complete ban on the film that it believes distorts historical facts and hurts the community’s sentiments. It has rejected the compromise that the censor board and the makers of *Padmavat *have arrived at, including a change in the title before agreeing to a U/A certificate. Other modifications include two disclaimers, one in the beginning and the other after the interval, a first for an Indian film, changes in the *Ghoomar *song featuring Padukone and removal of misleading references to historical places.
“This is the first time that the CBFC has been made to work under so much pressure and hire independent panellists besides its 200 members to view a film,” said a CBFC member, on the condition of anonymity. “Fringe elements should not disrupt the shows now, at least without watching the film.”
The person added that the *Padmavat *team was unlikely to wait much longer for theatrical release after the changes are incorporated, given the financial stakes involved. Atul Mohan, editor of trade magazine Complete Cinema, said that the year’s busy film schedule starts this weekend. The 12th weekend is booked by Anurag Kashyap’s *Mukkabaaz *and Saif Ali Khan-starrer Kaalakaandi. While the Padman team has confirmed theatrical release on the 25, Aiyyary has reportedly been shifted to 9 February.
Meanwhile the *Padmavat *team itself wants some time to market the film in a positive light and put out non-controversial communication.
“Given what the film has gone through, we have to be very cautious now,” the Viacom18 spokesperson said.
I still don't get what's all this fuss about this movie. I'm reading things about mass suicide of Rajput women, actors facing beheading threats etc. Flipping heck. Fellow Rajputs in neighbouring country have lost their minds.
I still don't get what's all this fuss about this movie. I'm reading things about mass suicide of Rajput women, actors facing beheading threats etc. Flipping heck. Fellow Rajputs in neighbouring country have lost their minds.
This movie being released during this political climate in India. Basically this movie is based upon a story from centuries ago where a Muslim king invaded a Rajput kingdom for the queen (both Kings are people who really existed, but the existence of the Queen Padmavati has not been proven to be true). When promo for this movie had not even come out yet, Bhansali himself was attacked based off of the *assumption *that there would be a scene where she and the Muslim king "get physical" in a dream sequence (which was false). Then promo started coming out and these people got mad because they felt like Deepika's betrayal of her was disrespectful because of the clothes she wore and the fact that she danced in the movie, which caused these extremist losers to target her.
Famous Indian historian of current time... Ram Puniya.... This movie is not going to put Rani Padmani in bad taste... This movie is work of fiction based on Malik Jaisi novel wrote in 1500 century after two century of Allaudin Khilji...
Ameer Khusro , the famous poet, used to write his war adventure in poetry... There were no references of Rani Padmani in the battle of Chitor... Khilji Vs. Rajpoot....
The only person who was reality of past .... Alaudin Khilji....and he showed in bad taste.... wahshi , janwar, and scar on face....
This entire movie debacle was hilarious. This movie's portrayal of the three main characters was exactly as one would expect looking from the trailer (according to reviews). The ~Noble, Civilized, and Good~ Rajputs vs. ~Bad, Savage~ Muslims. All it did was essentially wank off to that and these rightwing morons still threatened to do all type of things because Deepika barely showed her belly button and danced a little. Gimme a break lmfao.