Villain of ‘Padmavat’

BY: RANBIR MANHAS PUBLISHED ON JANUARY 26, 2018

Padmavat controversy has gripped the nation in a state of shock. Whereas Rajput Karni Sena is up in arms against film maker Sanjay Lella Bhansali for distorting their history and hurting their sentiments in his film Padmavat Sanjay Leela Bhansali blames Karni Sena for trying to trespass upon his Right of expression enshrined in the constitution of the country.

By going back to the beginning of this controversy one can find as to who is wrong and who is right.

Few years ago when Sanjay Leela Bhansali reached Jaipur in connection with the shooting of a dance scene in his film Padmavati, the members of Karni Sena made serious objections on it. Their grouse was that the dance scene was being filmed on Rani Padmavati whom whole of the Rajput community revered as Devi or Goddess. Though the shooting was deferred then, it was resumed and the film completed ignoring the genuine Rajput concerns. Needless to mention here, Rani Padmavati and her 16 thousand companions had consigned themselves to the flames and burnt alive to save their chastity which a cruel and notorious king namely Alawaldin Khilji was bent upon playing with. During this period, Rajput Karni Sena kept registering resentment through peaceful means. However, they lost patience and felt compelled to take their protest on the roads when Mr. Bhansali declared the date of release of Padmavati without caring a fig for their sentiments and emotions. They also sought intervention of Honorable Supreme Court of India which in turn referred the matter to the Film Censor Board for its observations. But, the Film Censor Board showed ignorance on the issue claiming that the film had not yet been produced before it by the producer for certification.

“We are surprised to know that the date of release of ‘Padmavati’ has been announced even before its passage by the Censor Board”, observed the Board. However, when the film came to the Board, not only the name of the movie was changed from Padmavati to Padmavat certain scenes were also removed from the film before certifying it for the release proving thereby that there was something objectionable in the scenes. The Rajputs were not satisfied even then. They wanted the film to be shown to the decedents of Rani Padmavati, but it was not done. Instead of this, the producer preferred to show the film to few journalists thus adding fuel to the already existing Rajput anger. Visualizing the delicacy of the situation, the local governments of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujrat and Madhya Pradesh where Karni Sena had considerable influence, decided to impose a ban on the release of the film. The ban however, was revoked by the Supreme Court of India with the observation that since the film was duly passed by the Censor Board, it could not be banned.

But, the Karni Sena did not budge from its stand and decided to impose civil ban on the film. “This picture is aimed at distorting the history of Rajputs; their traditions and their culture and we will not allow our honor to be sold in cinema halls”, they declared. Interestingly, other Hindu organizations irrespective of their creed, caste and political affiliation also plunged into the controversy and came on the road in support of the Karni Sena making it difficult for the local governments to take any stringent action against the protestors lest the situation went beyond control. And they were not wrong to think so. “If it could recoil in the case of agitating Patidars in Gujrat, why could it not happen in their states as well”? However, amid uncertainty of sorts, the Supreme Court of India ordered that film Padmavati be released in all cinema halls of the country on January 25.

Today if Karni Sena is getting support of various socio-religious organizations, Mr. Bhansali too has not been left alone the as entire ‘Freedom Brigade’ has solidly stood behind him in the name of Right to Expression’ ignoring that there was yet another fundamental right namely Right of Faith also enshrined in the same constitution being used by the protesting Karni Sena.

The situation is grave particularly when some political parties and individuals are hell bent to divide India on the basis of caste, creed and religion. The situation is all the more unwelcome when attempts are on to destabilize the country from across the border.

But the million dollar question that stares right in the eyes of a common man is: Who is responsible for this; Karni Sena, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Censor Board, Court or the Government?

As far as the Censor Board is concerned it is bound by certain rules and regulations according to which it decided the issue, it is another thing though that before granting certificate to the controversial picture, it could have tried to remove the doubts of Karni Sena by taking them also on board.

The Supreme Court is also bound by the Constitution and what it observed and decided was solely on the basis of its legal obligations.

The three parties left now are the Government, the Karni Sena and the filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. As for Sanjay Leela Bhansali, he could have avoided the controversy by addressing the genuine concerns of Rajput community about which they had already informed him on his first visit of Rajasthan. As a good businessman instead of adopting a path of confrontation he should have adopted a reconciliatory approach, which could have saved him from a possible massive financial loss besides saving the society from the present situation of chaos and confusion.

As far as the local governments, they also cannot be blamed for the present ugly situation. In fact they did everything possible to defuse the situation. The Opposition; the Media and the so called Freedom Bregade wanted to crush the Karni Sena with heavy hand, but the local governments did not oblige them knowing well that the same Opposition would blame them for using excessive force against the agitators terming them as peaceful. “If the Opposition can go to the extent of calling the Army Chief as ‘ek gali ka gunda’ when he launches operation all out against foreign terrorists in Kashmir, imagine how it could react on taking a tough stand against the Karni Sena”! In a way, the local governments are facing a uphill task as on one hand these are bound to ensure smooth release of film Padmavat, while on the other hand they have the challenge of maintaining law and order situation in their respective states with utmost caution and constraint to save the situation from further deterioration. Karni Sena resorted to violence because according to them, Bhansali made a derogatory film on their Goddess and Sanjay Bhansali is making the film to make money at the cost of public sentiments. Now it is for the readers to analyze as to who is the villain of Padmavat controversy and who is not. However, being myself a journalist, I cannot absolve my media fraternity from the charges of instigating and provoking the otherwise peaceful Rajputes by hurling all types of inflammatory abuses upon them with the result that today one of the most loyal, sincere, brave and nationalist communities has been pushed to wall ignoring their endless sacrifices that they have rendered for the nation! They called them terrorists, gundas, and gadars, which is like calling someone a ‘madercho….”. Why? To help a producer who has no regards for the sentiments of society and wants to fill his coffers in the name of art and azadi of expression!

Interestingly, there is a very good lesson hidden in this controversy for us all to learn. Be it media, the film makers or the so-called advocates of right to expression must understand that playing with people’s sentiments in emotional societies like the one existing in this sub-continent is like playing with fire and the fate of ‘Padmavat’ is a bold proof of that.