Violent protests against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat in Gujarat and Rajasthan, a day before the film’s release on Thursday, forced the Multiplex Association of India to decide against screening the period drama in the two States.
Incidents of violence were also reported from towns and cities in Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jammu where protesters torched buses, blocked highways and created a ruckus outside theatres.
The Gujarat Multiplex Owners’ Association announced that it would not run the controversial film in any theatre in the State in “view of the prevailing law and order situation.”
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“We have taken the decision for the safety of our customers as well as to save our property,” said association president Manubhai Patel.
50 arrested
The Ahmedabad police have arrested 50 people and filed three separate FIRs in connection with the violence witnessed at three malls in the city on Tuesday night.
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Hitting out at the State government, Patidar leader Hardik Patel sought to know if Chief Minister Vijay Rupani would resign in view of the situation.
Protesters from Shri Rajput Karni Sena and other outfits went on the rampage in different parts of Rajasthan on Wednesday.
The Jaipur-Delhi National Highway was blocked at several places.
Protesters damaged two State roadways buses in Sikar district. No one was injured in the violence.
Multiplex Association of India president Deepak Asher said its members will not screen Padmaavat in Rajasthan. The association has decided not to screen it in two other States — Goa and Madhya Pradesh — in view of the law and order situation.
The historic Chittorgarh Fort, where Queen Padmini is believed to have lived in the 13th century, was closed for a day after women members of Karni Sena tried to break in for a protest.
Karni Sena founder Lokendra Singh Kalvi said at a press conference in Jaipur that a “self-imposed curfew” would be enforced by the people to boycott the film.
A tight security net was thrown around Diggi Palace in the State capital, where the Jaipur Literature Festival is starting on Thursday, in view of Karni Sena's warning of a protest against the presence of Central Board of Film Certification chief Prasoon Joshi at the event.
Members of Karni Sena targeted movie halls in Meerut, Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar districts of Uttar Pradesh and blocked the Delhi-Saharanpur highway in protest against the screening of Padmaavat .