The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has cleared Deepika Padukone-starrer Padmavati for release without a single cut . The film has been given a December 1 release date by the authority for screening in Britain. The film is unlikely to release in the country before it comes out in India and the makers have also signalled in this regard.
Back in India, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed advocate ML Sharma to file another petition seeking a direction to restrain the makers of Padmavati from releasing the film outside India on December 1.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said it would hear Sharma after he files the petition.
The lawyer alleged that the makers of Padmavati misrepresented facts before the court with regard to the censor board’s approval on releasing songs and the promo. The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed petitions seeking ban on the film, making it clear that it wants the censor board to come to an independent and considered decision on certifying the movie.
The Sanjay Leela Bhansali spectacle has been deferred back home after massive protests from right wing groups who cited alleged “distortion of history” and the Rajput queen being shown in a poor light. Despite the makers refuting these claims, the film has been banned in two states with others demanding cuts in the film. The Central Board of Film Certification is yet to watch and certify the film, having returned the first application to the makers on the grounds of it being incomplete.
The BBFC, however, passed the film without any cut and gave it a 12 A rating. 12 A rating means a child under 12 needs to be accompanied by adults to watch the film. It said that the film had “moderate violence and injury detail”. In the summary of the film, it says, “Padmavati is a Hindi language epic drama in which a Sultan leads an invasion to capture a Rajput queen.”
Right wing organisations are protesting an alleged romantic relationship or a dream sequence between Padmavati (Deepika Padukone) and Alauddin Khilji (Ranveer Singh). The director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, has clarified there will be “no romantic scene or song or dream sequence between Rani Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji”. However, this failed to stop the protests. Even as Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have banned the film, other BJP-ruled states have demanded that there should be no distortion of history in the film.
A BJP member from Haryana, Surya Pal Amu, offered Rs 10 crore bounty for beheading of Padukone and Bhansali. After being criticised by his party, he said he will burn every theatre if the film is released.
While there is a record of siege of Chittorgarh by Khilji, there is little historical evidence for Padmavati, who may have been created by the Sufi Muslim author of the poem, Malik Muhammad Jayasi.
When returning Padmavati application to producers, CBFC had said that the new application may have to wait for 68 days – a rule censor board had all along but was never implemented – before it was certified. A select group of journalists who watched the film have said the film doesn’t distort history in any way and celebrates Rajput pride. (Hindustan Times News)
