Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi : While officially the BJP appears to be maintaining a distance from the Padmavati controversy, its senior leader and union minister Uma Bharti has taken the baton to ensure that saffron sentiments on the sentiment issue are recorded.
In a series of tweets, Bharti, who has so far been quite vocal on the issue, said she had been assured that the Censor Board would take care of all the issues being raised by the Rajput community as far as the film is concerned. At the same time, she said that as disrespect to Padmavati was a cause of concern, so was that to the film’s lead actress Deepika Padukone.
“Film Censor Board is an independent organisation. We expect that the film will be cleared taking the sentiments of people into consideration.
“I have been assured that Censor Board will take care of all the issues being raised. I am confident that they are already informed about the concerns being raised by the people,” Bharti said in a series of tweets.
“The director and his associate as the scriptwriter of Padmavati are responsible for its story. They should have taken care of the sentiments and the historical facts,” she said.
At the same time, she said, “Disrespect to the actress or actor of Padmavati is uncalled for and immoral.” Both director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Padukone have not only been criticised but also insulted and threatened by groups representing the far right.
“If we are talking about the respect to Padmavati, then it is our moral obligation that we respect every woman,” Bharti said, an obvious reference to the threats issued by the Rajput Karni Sena to Padukone.
Reports have quoted Mahipal Singh Makrana, president of Rajasthan unit of the outfit, saying that they would not hesitate to chop Deepika’s nose like Shurpanakha’s.
“It’s appalling, it’s absolutely appalling. What have we got ourselves into? And where have we reached as a nation? We have regressed,” Padukone was quoted as saying after angry and violent protests swept across Rajasthan and other parts of the country as well.
“Cine actress Deepika Padukone giving us lecture on regression!! Nation can progress only when it is regression from her perspective,” senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy fumed as Padukone, the lead actress of the epic period drama, expressed views on the raging controversy around the movie.
According to some political leaders, that includes both from the BJP and Congress, some of the furore was a result of “legitimate outrage” of Rajputs over “misrepresentation of the legendry queen who is no less than a ‘devi’, a goddess, for the community”.
The Bhansali film starring Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh is scheduled to release on December 1. However, the movie has been in the eye of a storm right from the beginning. The Yogi Adityanath government in UP has asked the I&B ministry to take the public outcry over the “twisted historical content” of the film before granting it a censor certificate while Haryana has also made similar noises.
Earlier, Bharti advocated a “committee with historians, the filmmaker, the protesters and the censor board on it to decide the issue,” while her party colleague Sakshi Maharaj slammed Bhansali for “making money out of an attempt to disgrace a Rajput queen”. “I condemn this and urge Bhansali to make a film on Prophet Mohammad which will let him know about his stature,” he was quoted as saying.
According to a political observer from Rajasthan “some concerns may be well-placed but largely it seemed like an attempt at maintaining political relevance”.
“For example, Meera Bai, who is worshipped like a ‘devi’, was also from Chittorgarh like Rani Padmani or Padmavati is said to be.
“And also the ‘Ghoomar’ dance that Padukone is said to have performed in the movie, women of royal families would not be seen doing it in front of others,” he added.
