I&B Ministry Seeks Historians to Vet Bhansali’s ‘Padmavati’

The Ministry wishes for historians to vet the facts shown in Padmavati before CBFC makes its final decision.

The Ministry wishes for a few eminent historians to vet the facts shown in Padmavati before CBFC makes its final decision. 

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The Modi government is seeking help from eminent historians to decide the fate of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming movie, Padmavati, by checking the accuracy of facts portrayed, reports Hindustan Times.

According to Deccan Chronicle, the I&B Ministry, working on the CBFC’s request, had recently reached out to the human resource development ministry for their help in suggesting names of historians who would be required to be a part of the Censor Board which will review and analyse the ‘controversial’ content in the movie.

An outburst of controversy has greeted the film, which was originally set to be released on 2 December. However, in light of the protests spearheaded by religious right-wing organisations like the Karni Sena and other Rajput organisations, the producers have delayed the release of the film to an indefinite day.

The reason behind this is largely due to the fact that these groups have accused Bhansali of ‘distorting’ their history, citing an apparent dream sequence between Sultan Alauddin Khilji and Rani Padmini, which they state hurt their Rajput sentiments. Bhansali had reverted by stating that the movie was fictional.

On 30 November, CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi had said before a parliamentary panel that Padmavati would not get permission to be released before its content was cleared by historians.

According to Asian Age, the human resource development ministry will start finalising and suggesting names of historians to the I&B Ministry for reference. The same report states that the producers of the film have submitted their application to the Censor Board, once again.

Several politicians too have made known their disapproval of the film and called for its ban in their respective states. However, last month, the Supreme Court had dismissed a plea calling for a ban on Padmavati and instead ordered the Centre to check that people holding ‘public offices’ do not publicly state their personal views on the movie, which could bias the CBFC decision. It added that the final call for the release of the movie, lay in the hands of the CBFC.