“She (Padmavati) walked in all glory, silently like the cloudless night,
Her beauty reminding him of dazzling moon and the starry skies,
Valour, womanhood and radiance meet in a watery reflection,
That drove him crazy when the beauty met his (Ala-ud-din-Khilji) eyes”…
When the cruel Afghan ruler of Delhi threatened Rajasthan’s traditions and the purity of marriage, the beautiful Padmavati embraced Jauhar (self-immolation) with valour. She would rather burn in fire than getting soiled by Khilji’s lustful intensions towards her.
Iconic Bollywood Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati Attracts Trouble in Rajasthan
Last week, Bhansali and his crew comprising of Deepika Padukone, Ranvir Singh and Shahid Kapoor landed in Rajasthan to shoot scenes for their movie Padmavati. However, Bhansali was assaulted by the members of Karni Sena (a group of Rajasthani Rajput protestants) who attacked the sets of Padmavati. Thereafter, the entire cast of Padmavati cancelled the shoot and returned to Mumbai. But that’s just the half truth. Here’s how the entire Padmavati movie controversy took place.
1. Critics brushed away the incident as a publicity stunt. Despite a famous personality being attacked, neither Bhansali nor any of his crew member registered a case against the protestants. They didn’t even demand a police investigation.
2. Though Bhansali sought Rajasthan government’s permission for the shooting in the famous Jaigarh fort, they didn’t arrive on the scheduled time. They didn’t inform the police of their arrival. Therefore, Rajasthan police was unable to provide them security against the attacks.
3. Sources state that Bhansali has had four meetings with Karni Sena members in Mumbai. In the meeting, the members have expressed displeasure regarding Padmavati’s script. Regardless of their objection, Bhansali stuck to his previous story.
4. Karni Sena members protested against Bhansali because the director had manipulated the historical facts in his script. Padmavati movie presents Queen Padmavati as the lover of Ala-ud-din-Khilji, which isn’t true.
5. Bhansali’s script involves romantic scenes between Padmavati and Ala-ud-din-Khilji in a dream sequence. The Rajputs of Rajasthan took this as an insult to their cultural heritage and a woman’s respect.
6. Things worsened when Bhansali claimed that he would shoot his movie outside Rajasthan. This announcement followed Karni Sena threatening the director that they wouldn’t let them shoot this movie anywhere in India, until Bhansali changes his script.
7. Several Hindu groups like Shiv Sena extended their support to Karni Sena members. Quoting examples of previous movies like Jodha Akbar and Bajirao Mastani, regional groups stated that time and again, Bollywood personalities have presented wrong facts before the younger generations.
8. Today, Rajasthan education minister Vasudev Devnani put forth his view regarding Padmavati controversy. According to Devnani, though the attack on Bhansali was unfortunate, even Rajasthan government believes that one shouldn’t manipulate historical facts for personal gain.
9. Padmavati controversy spread like a wildfire when the entire B-town including Karan Johar, Kabir Khan and Priyanka Chopra backed Bhansali. Meanwhile, Lalu Prasad Yadav invited Bhansali to shoot his movie in Bihar. Also, Deepika (who’s playing the part of Padmavati in the movie) assured the public that they won’t do injustice to her story.
As Padmavati I can assure you that there is absolutely no distortion of history.#Padmavati
— Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) January 28, 2017
10. Recently, Sushant Singh Rajput (who played the lead role in Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s biopic) has decided to drop his title ‘Rajput’ from his Twitter account in a silent protest against Karni Sena.
We would suffer till the time we’re obsessed with our surnames.
If you’re that courageous,give us your first name to acknowledge.#padmavati— Sushant Singh Rajput (@itsSSR) January 27, 2017
Real Story of Rani Padmavati
Padmavati, the queen of Chittor, Rajasthan was an exceptional example of timeless beautify, feminism, bravery and devotion towards her husband. But, Ala-ud-din-Khilji, who had heard of her beauty waged a war against Chttor’s ruler King Ratan Singh to kidnap Padmavati.
To prevent the ugly battle that would result in massive bloodshed, Padmavati kept a condition before him. She would reveal her face to Khilji if he promised to return back to his kingdom. However, upon seeing her reflection in the pond waters illuminated by moon, he felt a strong attraction towards her and decided to have her for himself. The events of that night were followed by a gory battle where Raja Ratan Singh was killed. To escape the clutches of the cruel Mughals, Padmavati committed mass suicide along with 16,000 women of her clan.
So this was the original story of Rani Padmavati. Though we don’t support the way Karni Sena attacked Bhansali to present their view, we sincerely hope that Bhansali should realise the gravity of this situation. One shouldn’t distort or manipulate historical facts for selfish interest. By doing so, we’re presenting the wrong information to the public.
