New Delhi: BJP members sought a ban on Padmavati in the meeting of the parliamentary panel on Thursday. The meeting was called to discuss the Padmavati controversy. Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Prasoon Joshi also attended the meeting. While BJP members sought a ban on the film, Members of Parliament (MPs) from Trinamool Congress and Congress opposed any ban on the film.
Padmavati director Bhansali and CBFC chief Joshi were summoned by the parliamentary panel to present their views on the ongoing controversy over the film. BJP MP Anurag Thakur chaired the panel.
Thakur wrote in a tweet earlier on Thursday, “Today at 3pm the Parliamentary IT Committee will be examining the subject ‘Film Industry:Problems & Challenges’. Details available on #LokSabha website.”
Among other MPs, the panel included actor-politicians Paresh Rawal of BJP, and Raj Babbar of Congress. BJP MP from Chittorgarh, CP Joshi asked, “We have asked for a ban on Padmavati. History has been distorted in this film. The director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, has presented written documents which say that the film is based on historical facts. Jayasi’s Padmavat was written several centuries after the siege of Chittorgarh took place. Where is the guarantee that that is the truth? Are Padmavati, Raja Ratansen and the Padmini Mahal (that is still there) – all imaginary? The censor board is yet to certify the film but it has passed the song Ghoomar. We have raised objections to that too in this committee.” Om Birla, BJP MP from Kota, echoed his counterpart from Chittorgarh.
The chief ministers of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have already declared a ban on Padmavati in their respective states. States like Bihar, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are waiting for a go-ahead from the censor board first.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, took the opposite route and announced that she would ensure a smooth release for Padmavati, if the team were to arrange for a premiere in Kolkata.
On Tuesday, while striking down a PIL seeking a stay on the release of Padmavati, the Supreme Court pulled up the Centre for comments by people in ‘responsible positions holding public offices’. The court questioned the Centre as to how people holding public offices could ‘make statements on a movie that has not been cleared by the CBFC.
Padmavati has been embroiled in a bitter battle with several Hindu groups, with nationwide protests spearheaded by the Shri Rajput Karni Sena. The bone of contention is ‘distortion of history’.
Rajput groups think that Bhansali has represented Rajput queen Padmavati in a ‘derogatory manner’, what with Deepika Padukone (who plays the eponymous character in the film) dancing the Ghoomar ‘in front of men’ and a dream sequence of a love scene between Padukone and Ranveer Singh (who plays Turkish invader Alauddin Khilji).
Sanjay Leela Bhansali and the team of Padmavati, meanwhile, have clarified time and again that no dream sequence of the kind is part of the film.
The film was initially slated for a release on December 1 this year, but it has now been ‘voluntarily deferred’ by the producers. While the Padmavati fire rages on, the CBFC is yet to give a certificate to the controversial film.
