‘Padmavati’ escaped a ban in BJP-ruled Haryana on Wednesday with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar saying the state government would wait till the decision of the Central Board of Film Certification on the movie. Khattar told reporters after a state cabinet meeting that any decision on permitting the screening of the Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed film in the state will be taken only after the CBFC’s decision.
However, he made it clear that nobody would be allowed to hurt the sentiments of people belonging to a particular community. On remarks made by Surajpal Singh Amu, Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief media coordinator in the state, the CM said that those were the leader’s personal views. The state government has nothing to do with them, he said.
The party has issued a show cause notice to Ammu, Khattar said.
He said he has learnt that a complaint has also been filed against Amu and the law would take its own course.
Following the ban on ‘Padmavati’ by Madhya Pradesh government, there was speculation that the Khattar government would also announce a ban on the period drama after the cabinet meeting.
There have been protests in various parts of Haryana against the yet-to-be released movie. Haryana cabinet ministers and other state BJP leaders have already demanded a ban. Senior Minister Anil Vij had said he would demand a ban during Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.
Another cabinet minister Vipul Goel had earlier written to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani asking her to ensure that there was no distortion of historical facts in the movie.
Amu had offered a `10 crore reward for beheading director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and actor Deepika Padukone. In a fresh threat on Tuesday, he said the youth and the `warrior castes’ had the strength to set every cinema on fire.
Unfazed by the show cause notice against him, Amu said he would not allow anyone to watch the movie, claiming that the heroic character of ‘Rani Padmavati’ had been shown in a bad light. “If the movie is run, you know Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat campaign is going on. The entire Kshatriya samaj will damage all the cinema halls of the country,” he had said.