Padmaavat opens amid tension but no violence
CANCELLED Film not screened in Karnal, K’shetra, Panipat, Kaithal, Y’nagar, Bhiwani, Rewari and Mahendragarh; shows go in Rohtak, Sirsa
NEWDELHI: Cinema halls in several states did not screen Padmaavat as the controversial film on legendary queen Padmini opened across the country on Thursday amid the Karni Sena’s national bandh call evoking a poor response.
While the film’s screening was stalled by theatre owners in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan fearing violence, it was shown in many cinema halls in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana amid tight security. In other states, the film opened without incident.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a contempt petition on Monday against the states where the film was not screened while the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal dismissed an appeal by the Jauhar Smriti Sansthan seeking a stay on the movie’s release saying it distorted historical facts. The court admitted the contempt petition against the four states and the Shree Rajpur Karni Sena. On January 18, the Supreme Court had set aside the ban on the film by the states of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Trade analyst Atul Mohan said he was hopeful about Padmaavat’s good run at the box office. “It can be a hit because people are liking the film. They are posting their comments on social media. Reviews are mostly positive. It has the potential to do well despite the ban. People are curious about all the noise around it,” he said. The film opened for paid previews on Wednesday and earned ~5 crore. Mohan believes it’s a good collection.
ROHTAK/KARNAL/SIRSA: Controversial film Padmaavat was screened only in a few multiplexes and cinemas in the state on its release on Thursday, with theatre owners in least eight districts cancelling shows amid threat of violence by members of the Rajput community.
The movie was not screened in Karnal, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Kaithal and Yamunanagar districts after countrywide protests by members of the Rajput Karni Sena. Owners of malls that house multiplexes pasted notices saying that the movie was not being screened to maintain peace.
Cinema halls in Bhiwani, Rewari and Mahendragarh — the districts that have a sizeable Rajput population and share border with Rajasthan — had announced in advance that they will not screen the movie.
The movie will not be screened at a mall in Sonepat after the management of Q Cinemas at the TDI Mall in Kundli cancelled shows for Friday.
The mall screened two shows on Thursday, the first day of the release. In Sonepat city, the movie was screened at Maxx Cinema, after the administration imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) banning large gatherings and carrying of weapons around movie halls. In Jhajjar, three shows ran in the morning, but the rest of the day’s shows were cancelled.
In Rohtak, the movie is on in six cinemas and received a good response. Here too, Section 144 is in force and more than 400 cops were deployed. Jind’s only cinema hall did not screen the movie.
In Karnal, hundreds of members of the Rajput community took out a protest march. Hundreds of members of the Rajput community held a meeting at the Karnal Rajput Sabha and also took out a protest march in Karnal. The protesting members submitted a memorandum to the district administration demanding ban on the film.
“We have submitted a memorandum to the government demanding ban on the movie, which has hurts the sentiments of our community,” Rajender Singh, district president of Rajput Sabha, said.
Police deployment was made near the cinemas at the district headquarters but no incident of violence was reported.
The movie got a good response in Sirsa district where a total of 12 shows at the multiplex passed off peacefully.
The Sirsa multiplex general manager Pankaj Khemka said the cinema halls had 80 percent occupancy rate.
90 SHOWS IN UT, MOHALI
No untoward incident was reported from Chandigarh and the neighbouring Mohali, where multiplexes screened 90 shows. Two multiplexes in Panchkula did not take bookings. Security had been tightened.
In Chandigarh, 200 police personnel were deployed near multiplexes and cinema halls.
Aditi Chauhan (21), a Chandigarh resident, who watched the movie at the city’s Elante Mall, said, “I found nothing objectionable in it.”
SPORADIC PROTESTS IN PUNJAB,BUT NO ARSON
JALANDHAR/AMRITSAR:Even as protests were held in a few places in Punjab, it was business as usual across cities of Punjab, with the authorities in Jalandhar and Amritsar saying no threat was issued against the screening of the movie in the state.
Members of the Rajput community, owing allegiance to Karni Sena and Rajput Shakti Sena, burnt the effigy of film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Dinanagar of Gurdaspur.