Padmavati gets nod for release but as Padmavat

Film to get UA certificate, CBFC suggest four other modifications

MUMBAI/NEWDELHI/JAIPUR: The censor board on Saturday said it would clear controversial Bollywood film Padmavati after suggesting five major modifications, including changing the title to Pad ma vat, but the move failed to pacify Rajput groups that allege the movie distorts history.

A fringe group warned of vandalising cinema halls if the ~150crore movie was released and Vishvaraj Singh, a descend ent of the royal family of Me war, called the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) “ignoble and unprofessional”.

The C BF C agreed to clear Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati with a U/A certificate and asked the filmmakers to put in a disclaimer that the movie does not claim historical accuracy and does not in any way subscribe to or seek to glorify Jauhar — the banned practice of a widow throwing herself on to her husband’s funeral pyre.

The suggestions also included changing any incorrect and misleading reference to historical places, and modifications to a song in the film in which a Ghoomar dance is performed.

The censor board’s certificate will be issued once these changes are made and the movie re-examined.

J os hi reportedly said that filmmakers had agreed to the CBFC’s suggestions, but no official comment was issued by Via com 18. A meeting is reportedly on the cards between the filmmakers and censor board officials in January. “This was an unprecedented and tough situation. I am glad that following a balanced approach we resolved the task at handina pragmatic and positive manner,” CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi said.

The board took the decision after its examining committee and a special advisory panel met on December 28 to review the film featuring actor Deepika Padukone as Rajput queen Padmavati.

The film is based on Pad ma vat, a 16th-century poem written by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jaya si, who give san account of a Rajput queen of Chit tor who chooses to kill herself rather than be captured by Delhi ruler Alauddin Khilji.

Historians are divided about whether the queen existed, but many Raj puts believe she did and accuse Bhansali of portraying her in a bad light. Rajput groups were angry that the movie allegedly contained a romantic scene between the queen and Khilji, who had attacked the Me war capital of Chittorgarh.

The Shri Rajput Karni Sena, a fringe outfit that made dire threats against the film’ s ca stand disrupted shooting in January, re acted with caution to the censor board’s decision.