‘Brave’ opening in Lucknow and Kashi

LUCKNOW: Tension was palpable across cinema halls in Uttar Pradesh where the controversial film ‘Padmaavat’ opened on Thursday with armed policemen stationed at vantage points and fire tenders waiting in readiness in case of trouble.

While protests against the movie were witnessed in most of the districts, malls were stoned and petrol bombs hurled at them in Varanasi. Also a youth attempted self-immolation in the holy city, but his bid was foiled and he was taken into custody. Despite this, the movie was screened at five theatres of the holy city.

However, the film was a ‘no-show’ in Kanpur and Allahabad.

The movie received partial response in the state capital and

› Those protesting against Padmaavat are actually BJP people. On one hand they are protesting and vandalising and on the other pretending to control it. AKHILESH YADAV, SP chief

› We can also say that SP cadres are creating the trouble. Don’t fall for SP’s propaganda. BJP won’t allow anybody to take law into their hands NAVIN SRIVASTAVA, BJP spokesperson on Akhilesh’s charge

some other districts.

The film is facing protests by Karni Sena and other fringe groups over allegations that it distorts history and defames their queen Padmavati.

In Mathura, district head of Braj Mandal Kshatriya Rajput Sabha, Mukesh Singh Sikarwar, announced ₹51 lakh to anyone bringing the head of Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

In Lucknow, the film was screened at several theatres such as Novelty, Shubham and Pratibha though none reported ‘House Full’. According to cinema hall managers, the film was receiving good response from the people. They said the morning shows opened to about 50 per cent occupancy, which increased to 60-65 per cent in the evening shows.

A few multiplexes, however, preferred to cancel early shows. Phoenix, Saharaganj and Riverside malls started the shows after 11.20 am while One Awadh Center and Fun mall started shows after 2 pm. Barring a few protests, no major incident was reported on Thursday.

Officials of the district administration had called a meeting with multiplex owners on Wednesday evening to discuss security arrangements for the day of release on Thursday.

“We discussed security issues at length. Some multiplex owners demanded deployment of police,” said chief development officer and DM in-charge Prashant Sharma. In Varanasi, Padmaavat released at five locations, including four multiplexes and a cinema hall, amid protests ranging from hurling of petrol bombs on malls to burning effigy of the filmmaker. A youth made a self-im-

molation bid before IP Mall, Sigra in protest against the movie release, but police foiled his bid and took him into custody. The youth has been identified as Dharmendra.

Circle officer, Chetganj, Dy SP Satyendra Tiwari said, “One Dharmendra was taken into custody as he tried to burn himself bid by pouring kerosene near a mall in Sigra. His bid was foiled. Action will be taken against him.” In Allahabad, despite elaborate security arrangements, all seven cinema halls, including PVR Cinema, cancelled the bookings for the day’s shows. They, however, are expected to start the screening from Friday.

Not a single Kanpur hall screened the movie due to fear of violence. The film was to be released in 20 halls -- 12 multiplexes and eight single screens. District magistrate Surendra Singh confirmed that the theatres didn’t show the movie despite adequate security given to them. In Muzaffarnagar, too, no cinema hall screened the movie. In Gorakhpur, barring United Talkies (single screen) no multiplex or cinema house screened the movie and the morning show had just 40 viewers against the hall’s 500-seat capacity. In Etawah, the movie released at two theatres and a good number of people turned up to watch it despite arson and violence threats.

(With PTI inputs)