Film board seeks disclaimers, name change for Padmavati

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has decided to give a U/A certificate “along with some modifications” to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s controversial film Padmavati and has asked the filmmaker to “likely” change the movie’s title to “Padmavat”. However, the suggestions have been slammed by a Mewar royal and some members of the film industry.The makers of Padmavati, featuring Deepika Padukone as Rajput queen Padmavati, were also asked to give a few disclaimers — one regarding not glorifying the practice of Sati and also relevant modifications in the song Ghoomar to “befit” the character portrayed, a CBFC statement said yesterday.The decision was taken after an examining committee meeting was held on Thursday in the presence of CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi.The special panel consisted of Arvind Singh from Udaipur, Dr Chandramani Singh and Professor K K Singh of Jaipur University.As per CBFC, the film was approached with a “balanced view keeping in mind both the filmmakers and the society”. The board asked for modifications and a name change, before giving the film the certification for being shown in theatres in India. Reports saying 26 cuts were ordered were denied by the CBFC.Considering the complexities and concerns around the film, the requirement for a special panel was felt “to add perspective to the final decision of the official committee”, the CBFC said.Padmavati, which was earlier slated for release on December 1, got embroiled in controversy after the Karni Sena, an organisation of the Rajput community, urged a nationwide ban on the film claiming that it “distorts historical facts”.Members of the political organisation also physically assaulted Bhansali during the film’s shooting in Jaipur earlier this year. They even burnt the sets of the movie on the outskirts of Mumbai. The row took an ugly turn when threats were issued against Bhansali and Deepika.Despite the go-ahead by the CBFC, the Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena demanded a complete ban on the film and said they will vandalise the theatres which show the film.Earlier on November 30, Bhansali appeared before a Parliamentary committee and said: “All the controversy over the film is based on rumours. I have not distorted facts. The film is based on a poem by Malik Muhammad Jayasi,” referring to the 16th century Indian sufi poet’s epic poem Padmavat.The certificate will be issued once the required modifications are carried out and final material submitted, the board said.However, the suggestions from CBFC were slammed by a Mewar royal, who expressed his disappointment in a letter to Prasoon Joshi — a copy of which is with IANS.Maharajkumar Vishvaraj Singh, son of Mahendra Singh Mewar — the 76th Maharana of the Mewar dynasty and a former Lok Sabha member — said he was supposed to be a part of the committee on Thursday, but couldn’t make it in the end, and the decision was taken by the Censor Board without his consent.Popular Bollywood celebrities like Anubhav Sinha, Renuka Shahane and Apurva Asrani, among others, also slammed CBFC’s decision on Twitter, where some people edited Deepika’s photograph with her co-star Ranveer Singh, referring to the new title, Padmavat.Renuka wrote: “The ‘I’ of the storm has passed. CBFC changes the name of Padmavati to Padmavat and passes the film with a U/A certificate. Thereby, nobody will have any issue and nobody’s sentiments will be hurt. Name changing is game changing I must say!”Filmmaker Rahul Dholakia was “disgusted” by CBFC’s decision. “Disgusted by the open and blatant use of political muscle against filmmakers during elections. Now that Gujarat and Himachal are won, Padmavati has got its U/A, it will be praised. Rajputs’ heroism will be talked about by the same people who slammed it.” Asrani said: “If ‘Pad Man’ picks up the ‘I’ that ‘Padmavat’ drops, they’ll have to call it ‘Padmani’. From the frying pan into the pyre.”Actor Rahul Dev tweeted: “’Padmavati’ turns ‘Padmavat’, smart move, yet wonder why is the ‘I’ so large in our country? CBFC gives U/A certificate for the film.” Unimpressed by the Censor Board’s decision to seek modifications and change the name to “Padmavat”, the Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena yesterday demanded a complete ban on the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film and threatened to vandalise theatres screening it.“We will station our people outside cinema theatres and each hall showing the film will be vandalised,” declared Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, president Shree Rajput Karni Sena, at a press conference here.He said that despite objections from the review committee members, the Censor Board had taken the decision to screen the film “because of underworld pressure”.“If there is any loss of property following the release of the film, the government would be responsible,” he warned.“If the government really wants to change the name of the film, let it name the movie as ‘Gaddar Allaudin Khilji’ and all scenes related to Padmavati should be removed from it,” Yogendra Singh Katar, Vice President, Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena, told IANS.“We will not allow the film to be released in any case,” he said, adding, “If it is released, we will follow the principle of Rajputs to sacrifice our lives for the sake of our honour.”A review committee was formed recently with six members.The CBFC has included Sriji Arvind Singh Mewar as one of its members.However, Karni Sena members claim that the real family members of Queen Padmavati of Chittor were Mahendra Singh Mewar, and have demanded that he or his son Vishvaraj Singh Mewar should be members of the committee.“Let the committee members include Mahendra Singh Mewar and let him decide what he has to say. Even if he agrees for the release of the film, we will demand naming of the film as ‘Gaddar Aladdin Khilji’,” Katar told IANS.Bhanwar Uday Singh Bhati, Alwar city president and a member of the same association, also demanded a ban on the film. “The way Bhansali is taking up the issue, it seems, is all for promotion of the movie,” Bhati told IANS.He added that Rajputs have been “disciplined” in staging peaceful protests over the years and “hence our patience should not be tested”. Asked what he had to say to the CBFC decision of releasing the film with suggested cuts and a name change, Bhati said “we just don’t want the film to be screened anywhere”.“How can they show the queen dancing with other women without ghoonghat. This has never been our culture,” he said, adding “Even today, our women go out in ghoonghat (veils).”“Rajputs have contributed a lot to this nation. However, the movie always shows them in poor light and never shows their story of valour, which is a shame. We expect a lot from our Rajput leaders who should come forward and help us in getting this movie banned. We don’t want vote bank politics on the film,” he said.Katar added: “We will not allow the film to be released at any cost. We have strong backing of all Hindu Associations from across the country who just don’t want this movie to be released at all.”