Padmavati makers defer release amid uncertainty
HISTORY VS FICTION Viacom says the step is voluntary, will wait for clearances MUMBAI/JAIPUR:
The makers of period drama Padmavati have put off the release of the Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film that has been hit by a wave of protests that have seen threats issued against lead actor Deepika Padukone.
In a statement on Sunday, a spokesperson of Viacom18 Motion Pictures said it had taken the decision voluntarily.
“Viacom18 Motion Pictures, the studio behind Padmavati, has voluntarily deferred the release date of the film from December 1st 2017,” it said, without giving the new date.
The film has been mired in controversy over conjectures that it “distorts history” regarding Rajput queen Padmavati, a charge that Bhansali has repeatedly denied.
The Rajput Karni Sena, a fringe group, has been demanding a ban on the movie while some political outfits demanded that the release be deferred in view of the Gujarat assembly election.
After the film’s release was put off, the outfit announced it would postpone its Bharat Bandh — earlier slated for December 1 — in protest against the film. However, the organisation would “meet them in the field” whenever the film is released, said Karni Sena patron Lokendra Singh Kalvi, and called Bhansali a “cultural goon” and a “trickster”.
The Viacom18 spokesman said the studio had the highest regard for the law of the land and statutory bodies such as the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
“We have faith that we will soon obtain the requisite clearances to release the film,” the statement said.
Censor Board chief Prasoon Joshi had on Saturday slammed the makers for allowing the film to be screened for various media