Rajput community to burn cinemas that play 'Padmavati'

Rajput organisations are inflicting fear within audiences who want to go watch the movie on the big screen...

Sanjay Leela Bhansali seems to have had a very rough time throughout the course of his current project Padmavati. First it was the vandalism of sets in Kolhapur, then the posters of the film were burnt by Karni Sena – an outfit of the Rajput community, and now, cinemas have been threatened by Jai Rajputana Sangh – another Rajput outfit.

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Members of the Jai Rajputana Sangh threatened to burn cinemas and multiplexes if Sanjay Leela Bhansali proceeds with Padmavati’s release without a pre-screening to Rajput organisations, reported Hindustan Times.

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On Saturday, they met with the management of numerous organisations in Jaipur, warning them of consequences that will occur if the Shahid Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone-starrer is screened without approval.

“We won’t tolerate any distortion of history and if any romantic relationship is shown between queen Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji, we will burn cinema halls screening the film,” said Bhanwar Singh Reta, founder of the Jai Rajputana Sangh which consists 265,000 members.

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He continued, “Our members are trained in handling a large array of weapons ranging from swords to AK 47 guns. We won’t let anyone dishonour Padmavati and insult the people of Rajasthan.”

He went on to confirm that notices of warning have also been sent to cinemas outside Rajasthan, including Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat – totalling around 200 warnings.

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“Our demand is that the film-makers screen it to a panel of representatives from various Rajput organizations,” he added. “We will only give them a go-ahead to release the film after we are satisfied that no scene insults queen Padmavati.”

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Union Information and broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani were also criticised, “Irani had said that the film will face no trouble during its release. We condemn this statement.”

The film has been scheduled for release on December 1 of this year.

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