“Padmavati is facing trouble with several Rajput groups and political leaders, alleging that Bhansali

has tampered with “historical facts” in the movie. The director has been accused of using a romantic
dream sequence between Rajput queen Padmini (Deepika Padukone) and Sultan Alauddin Khilji
(Ranveer Singh), a claim repeatedly denied by him. Historians are divided over whether Padmini
actually existed. Chief ministers of BJP-ruled states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh and Gujarat have also called for a ban on the period drama. The fate of Padmavati rests in
the hands of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and actor Shahid Kapoor said now as the
film is with the right authority, he hopes the period drama will release soon. The Sanjay Leela
Bhansali-directed film was slated to be released on December 1, but the makers “voluntarily”
deferred the release after the CBFC asked them to reapply for certification with complete details”.

Source: The Indian Express Published: December 3, 2017 6:04 pm

NEWS ANALYSIS
The moist soil around the budding sapling of Padmavati controversy continues to find less light.
The film was slated to be released on December 1, but the makers “voluntarily” deferred the release
after the CBFC asked them to reapply for certification with complete details.

The debate stops at the mere assertion that “historical facts” have been “distorted”. Apart from the
rejected assumption made by Rajput Karni Sena of there being a romantic sequence between Rani
Padmini and Alauddin Khilji, there is no clear indication to any particular instance. Further, the
assertion made by Chief Ministers of UP, Goa, Maharshtra and Rajasthan that the screening of the
movie might lead to a ‘law and order problem’ in the context of elections would have still found a
little support. But the claims made by BJP to not letting history being distorted again indicates some
vested interest in terms of an attempt to not upset the majority Hindu community.

The movie is claimed to be based on the factually correct 1303 siege laid by Alauddin Khilji on the
Chittor Fort in Rajputana and the imaginary depiction and existence of the Hindu Rajput Queen,
Rani Padmini by Malik Muhammad Jayasi, a Sufi Poet, in his epic poem Padmavat in 1504. Although
an artist can assert their freedom to express in light of creativity, but even in doing so, some
historians have criticised the portrayal of Alauddin Khilji as an “Indian Khal Drogo, wearing a fur coat and
gobbling meat" in the trailer of the film. Business Standard India wrote that historians believe "the sultan
of Delhi who successfully stopped repeated attempts by Mongols to invade India would have been one
of the most sophisticated men of his times." There are historians who are divided over the question
whether Rani Padmini actually existed or not.

The freedom of expression guaranteed to citizens often finds additional scrutiny in case of artists
who are alleged to take it for granted in the name of creativity. It thus becomes important to not
side with the fringe mind set of banning the film. The objection raised by CBFC on the pre-screening
of the movie by the director for editors of media houses is a little too biased. Indeed the Board’s
authority sits to ‘censor’ and add technical obstacles to what it deems objectionable. In such a case
the movie director deserves the opportunity to present his case, by means of screening the movie
before intellectuals and then coming to better shaped, wide and unbiased opinions regarding his
work. This can actually convince him to whether edit the movie or not, or for that matter ban it.

Now the decision lies in CBFC’s hands that has the additional burden of convincing the government
officials for its actions, officials that are strongly of a one-sided fringe opinion, along with not making
an attempt to curb the right to expression of an artist whose work has with time crowned the Indian
Cinema with prestige.