Amid protests against Sanjay Leela Bhansali's opulent period drama 'Padmavti', Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has written to Union Minister Smriti Irani to put the film's release on hold.
In a letter to the Information and Broadcasting Minister, the Rajasthan CM is said to have said that “Padmavati (should) not be released until some changes are made to it so that it 'does not hurt the sentiments of any community',” news agency ANI said on Saturday.
Raje also suggested that a committee should be formed “to to discuss the film and its plot and then suggest amendments to avoid 'hurting sentiments'.”
Warning about the fallout, Raje wrote, “the Censor Board must think of consequences before certifying Padmavati.”
The letter comes on a day when the Central Board of Film Certification Chief Prasoon Joshi slammed Bhansali for holding private screening of the movie without getting mandatory certification. He accused Bhansali of subverting the issue.
“It’s myopic to treat certification process haphazardly to suit convenience. On one hand,holding CBFC responsible and pressurizing to accelerate process and on other hand,attempt to subvert the very process,sets an opportunistic precedent,” Joshi was quoted as saying to ANI.
On Friday, the CBFC had returned the film to its makers as the application for the certification was “incomplete”.
Raje becomes second Chief Minister to request ban on Padmavati. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had had urged I&B Ministry to defer the release of the movie due to 'public anger' over the makers 'distorting historical facts' only because it could affect law and order on the release date.
