Court refuses to stay release of Padmavati

new delhi — The Supreme Court on Friday refused a plea seeking to ban the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s controversial Padmavati epic drama featuring Deepika Padukone as a Rajput queen.

The court said that it could not intervene since the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) was yet to decide about its certification. The film, which also stars Shahid Kapoor as Rawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as invader Alauddin Khilji, is set for release on December 1.

Some Hindu groups and political parties, including the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claim that the film distorts history and wrongly portrays Padmavati, a contention Bhansali has rebuffed. Bhansali should be tried for treason for distorting history. Gupta is also the General Secretary of the Uttar Bharatiya Morcha, BJP.

Gupta said that Bhansali has tried to malign Rani Padmavati’s sacrifice through Padmavati. “The whole country, not just the Rajput community, is standing against it. He needs to be severely punished by being tried for treason for his attempt to distort history, so that in future any filmmaker is wary of these kind of projects.”

Gupta has also appealed that the Central Board of Film Certification to “not certify this film”. “I am fully confident that my letter will taken into consideration, and a sedition case is run (registered) against Bhansali,” Gupta added.

Padmavati is slated to release on December 1, and there is brouhaha over it as various organisations have been targeting the filmmaker for distortion of history in the movie, touted as a “historical drama”. —