Starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, this movie is a historical drama featuring the characters of Rani Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji, a Delhi sultan known for his tyranny and oppression on the Rajputs in particular.
At the heart of all the controversies central to the plot of the film lies the offended sect of Shri Rajput Karni Sena, who believe that conceiving this film will lead to ‘distortion in history’ and the movie should only be allowed to hit the silver screens after the Karni Sena and historians have reviewed the movie and come to the conclusion that the movie neither has any factual fallacies nor any scenes which depict a physical relationship between any characters.
Beginning from the initial production of the film up until a few days ago post the release of its motion teaser, Padmavati has gone through a series of obstacles which have caused an inconvenience to all the parties involved in the movie, and also enraged many of those associated with the industry.
In late January this year, the shooting of a sequence at Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur was disrupted by an unforeseen physical assault on Sanjay Leela Bhansali, director of Padmavati, by an angry mob which comprised of members of the Karni Sena. They went on to project their fury on the film equipment by smashing and vandalizing it. Owing to this incident, the shooting of that scene was put on stop for a week. Such attacks took a more violent turn in March when the sets were torched during the film’s shooting in Kolhapur. This not only resulted in the destruction of property but also led to the death of livestock.
Very recently, Karan K, a rangoli artist, inspired by the first look of the movie, set about to create a realistic rangoli featuring Deepika Padukone in her Padmavati look. Before long, the image of the creation in Gujarat was brought to Bhansali’s notice and the production team began hunting for the artist. However, before any communication could take place between Bhansali and Karan, another angry mob, shouting “Jai Shri ram” destroyed the rangoli and left the place ransacked. Shobha Sant, CEO of Bhansali Productions, responded to the act of aggression in a witty manner by tweeting “And they deface the image of their queen who they claim to worship.”, accompanied by two pictures one of which showed the work in progress and other of the destroyed mess.
The members of these groups have been time and again criticized for reaching to absurd conclusions without watching the movie first and 5 people who were allegedly part of the rangoli vandalization have been arrested by the Gujarat Police.
