Sanjay Leela Bhansali, director of Padmavati and Censor Board Chief Prasoon Joshi were asked by a parliamentary committee to appear before it amid the controversy surrounding the movie which has been accused of distorting history by fringe groups. Various Rajput groups and political leaders have accused Mr Bhansali of distorting history in the movie by using a romantic dream sequence between the Rajput queen Padmini and Alauddin Khilji, a claim repeatedly denied by the filmmaker.
Statements on the controversy over Padmavati :-
- Parliamentary panel members while talking to Sanjay Leela Bhansali, said that it seemed his movies tend to target communities which produced tension between them. Media was giving free space due to the ongoing controversy and even social media had given the movie immense space.
- The panel members asked Sanjay that,”How could you assume that the movie could be released on December 1 when you applied to the CBFC on November 11. As per the cinematography act, the CBFC may take 68 days before certifying a movie or is selective media screening of the movie was fair and ethical or was it an act to influence the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
- BJP MP Anurag Thakur ahead of the meeting had tweeted about the focal point of the discussion.
- The 30-member parliamentary panel on IT has also asked the producers of the movie and officials of the information and broadcasting ministry to attend the meeting and brief it on the furors related to the film.
- The panel called the meeting,which looks into the issues of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, to discuss the problems and issues faced by the film. The panel is headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur and its members are senior BJP leader LK Advani.
- Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the director of “Padmavati” appeared before a parliamentary standing committee today on information technology to share his views on the controversy surrounding the film.
- Prasoon Joshi, who is also scheduled to appear before the parliamentary standing committee on IT later today, told the Lok Sabha Committee on Petitions that the censor board had only cleared the trailer and promos of the period film.
- Actor Esha Gupta shares her views that it is unfortunate how people are taking mileage out of the”Padmavati” controversy, instead of focusing on more important issues in the country. Asked about how she views death threats being issued to,she said, “In India, right now no one says ‘we will ban this or that’ when a rape happens, but a film is getting so much mileage because even these people know that they will get mileage out of a movie.” They don’t think rape is that important. They should focus on actual social issues.”
- Nana Patekar also appeared in support for Padmavati and states that,”Issuing death threats to Deepika Padukone & Sanjay Leela Bhansali is wrong. Why does controversy happen in his films? I don’t know how the characters are portrayed as of now, I can tell this to Sanjay (Bhansali) only after watching the film.The officials in Viacom18 Motion Pictures, which has co-produced the film along with Bhansali Productions, refused to comment in this regard. Whereas Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Prasoon Joshi are expected to attend the meeting at 3 pm.
- Actors Paresh Rawal and Raj Babbar, who are members of Parliament, are also part of the panel which will examine the issues relating to the movie.