Padmaavat ban off, but fringe vows to stall film

Haryana, 3 other states had announced ban on film

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court stayed on Thursday orders by four states banning controversial Bollywood movie Padmaavat, paving the way for a nationwide release of the period drama that is facing violent protests over the depiction of a legendary Rajput queen.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra also restrained other states from banning the film and asked state governments to provide security to the film’s cast and crew, who are facing threats of death and violence.

“Creative content is an inseparable aspect of Article 19 of the Constitution (fundamental right to speech). Expression of ideas through the medium of cinema is a public right,” the bench said.

Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan had banned Padmaavat after protests by Rajput caste groups. It is slated for release on January 25.

Still, Padmaavat’s troubles might not be over.

At least one state, Haryana, indicated that it would appeal the SC decision and another, Madhya Pradesh, said the film will remain banned as the government studies the apex court order. Rajput caste groups, led by the Shri Rajput Karni Sena, also called for a “janta (public) curfew” on January 25 and vandalised a cinema in north Bihar’s Muzaffarpur.

Earlier in the day, the CJI said the ban had shocked the court’s conscience. “A film may bomb at the box office or people may choose not to watch it, but states cannot use (their) machinery to prohibit (a) movie’s exhibition.”

The top court didn’t entertain additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta’s request to wait till the states responded and told the states that it was their “duty and obligation to maintain law and order”.

“Once Parliament has conferred the responsibility and power on a statutory board and the board has certified the film, non-exhibition of the film by states is contrary to statutory provisions,” the SC said.

Based on a 16th-century Sufi poem, the movie stars Deepika Padukone as queen Padmini, or Padmavati, while Ranveer Singh plays Muslim emperor Alauddin Khilji. Protesters are upset over a rumoured romantic scene, presumably a dream sequence, between Padukone and Singh , a charge denied by the director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Historians are divided on whether the queen existed. Last week, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) cleared the film after five modifications and a change in name, from Padmavati to Padmaavat.