Ahead of the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat on January 25, leaders of the Rajput outfit Karni Sena, met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday and demanded a ban on the film in the state.
“I met the UP chief minister today and demanded a ban on the film Padmaavat ,” Karni Sena patron Lokendra Singh Kalvi told reporters after his 20-minute meeting with the CM here. People will impose “janta curfew” in cinema halls in Uttar Pradesh if the movie is screened, he said.
Mr. Kalvi, who listed nearly 40 different objections with regard to the movie, demanded that films on the lives of Maharana Pratap, Shivaji and other eminent personalities be made.
“We urge the Prime Minister to ban the film and we are hopeful that he will meet our request. We ask the public as to whether it is on the side of Padmavati or Alauddin Khilji,” he asked.
“The Supreme Court does not say that only Bhansali enjoys the right to freedom of expression. We also have the right to protest. We are committed to ensuring that the movie is not screened in the country. With janta curfew, every cinema hall owner will not screen the film, and every member of the public will refuse to watch the film,” he said.
Asked to comment on the outcome of the meeting with Adityanath, he said, “Yogi Adityanath is bound by the Supreme Court directive (restraining states from banning the screening of the movie), but in-principle and emotionally, he is with us.”
“We are not bothered about their personal rapport, but, we will certainly not allow this (intimate scenes) to happen between Alauddin and Padmavati,” the Karni Sena leader added referring to a comment made by the film’s actor Ranveer Singh on July 28, 2016, where the actor said that he would accept any role which has two “intimate scenes” with Deepika Padukone.
