‘Padmaavat’ distributor files appeal on its nationwide ban
KUALA LUMPUR: Antenna Entertainment, the local distributor of the movie Padmaavat is appealing for the lifting of its nationwide ban.
At press time, the Film Appeal Committee was reported to be in the midst of reviewing the ban.
The movie, which stars Deepika Padukone, has been the target of widespread riots of India because it supposedly features the romance between a Muslim ruler and a Hindu queen.
In India, its release was delayed for two months as Hindus protested that the portrayal of 14th Century Muslim emperor Alauddin Khilji ( portrayed by Ranveer Singh) as being in love with Hindu queen Padmaavati ( Padukone) was “distorting history”.
However, the producers had clarified that there is no such portrayal in the movie.
Last Saturday, the National Film Censorship Board imposed the ban in this country.
Board chairman Mohd Zamberi Abdul Aziz was quoted as saying: “The storyline of the film touches on the sensitivities of Islam. That in itself is a matter of grave concern in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country.”
For its release in India, censors in New Delhi required a title change and a disclaimer explaining that the film was not based on historical facts.
Among the movies that had been banned in Malaysia was Disney’s Beauty and the Beast for its so- called “gay moment”.
But the decision was later reversed, but it was released on a PG13 certificate.
Last year, filmmaker Lena Hendry was prosecuted for holding a private screening of a documentary No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka.
The storyline of the film touches on the sensitivities of Islam. That in itself is a matter of grave concern in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country. Mohd Zamberi Abdul Aziz, National Film Censorship Board chairman