What Do Gujaratis Think About ‘Padmaavat’?

The controversy around the film Padmaavat has spiralled out of control and doesn’t seem like it’ll end anytime soon, even after the film releases. Gujarat, where the whole controversy started during the election period, has yet again convulsed in protests on the cusp of Padmaavat’s release on 25 January. Even before the film releases, Rajputs have taken to the streets across Gujarat, blocking highways, vandalising state transport buses, and pelting stones at cinemas and multiplexes, despite the fact that cinemas in the state have decided not to screen the film.

The Quint hit the streets of Ahmedabad and asked citizens their opinion on the matter. Many Amdavadis felt that the matter had been blown out of proportion and that the Supreme Court’s order that the film be allowed to release should be adhered to, without violence. While many agreed that Rajputs did have a right to object, they were clear on the view that violence was not a means to that end.

The Rajputs allege that director Sanjay Leela Bhansali has ‘hurt the sentiments’ of the community by representing them in a poor light. They have alleged that Bhansali, in the script of the film, has incorporated a dream-song sequence wherein the antagonist – Alauddin Khilji – is seen romancing Rani Padmavati, despite the fact that Bhansali has been denying the existence of any such scene in the movie.

This alleged scene has ‘outraged the modesty’ of the community according to the Rajputs and the call to ban the film was at a fever pitch during the Gujarat elections. The Gujarat government had sided with the Rajputs, and the governments of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh even appealed to the Supreme Court to unanimously ban the film.

Bhansali, on the other hand, had invited mediapersons and members of the community to watch the film so as to end all speculation. However, many members of the community are still up in arms and violence continues unabated across Gujarat, Rajasthan and other northern states.