EPA-EFE/Divyakant Solanki

Padmaavat tells the story of Padmavati, a 14th-century Hindu queen belonging to the Rajput caste and the Muslim ruler Alauddin Khilji. Such was the fury unleashed by the release of the film in January that some states banned its screening until the Supreme Court ruled that the bans were unconstitutional as they denied free speech.

Padmaavat is merely the latest of a string of films released in India over the past few years that have provoked unrest. What these films have had in common is their strong female characters. For example, Fire, directed by Deepa Mehta in 1996, depicted the provocative homosexual relationship between two women and angered the (mainly female) supporters of far-right political party Shiv Sena. Protesters stormed cinema theatres in Mumbai, burned posters and shouted angry slogans.

Lipstick Under My Burkha was also initially banned in 2017. The film, directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, portrays the intimate lives of four women. India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) ruled that there was too much “abusive language” and “audio pornography” which might offend Indian Muslims. “The story is lady-oriented, their fantasy above life,” said a letter from the board of censors to the film’s producers. The decision was subsequently overturned on appeal.

Historically in Bollywood films, women have represented ideas of acceptability, motherhood and – in a complex way – nationhood to the audience. In doing so, they have been carriers of messages revolving around traditions and honour, which had not only to pass muster with the rigorous CBFC but also – and perhaps more importantly – be acceptable to the various religious and political communities.
 

Stuff of legend

The story of Padmaavat goes back to a ballad by the Sufi composer Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1590 – which is when the figure of Padmavati seems to have emerged (although whether or not she really lived or is a character of folkore remains uncertain). It is a fascinating story, which has been adapted by several authors who have reinterpreted the Persian script and stitched elements of pride, honour and, territorial and cultural belongingness on to Padmavati’s character.

Padmavati (unknown artist, 1765). Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

A simplified version of the story goes like this: Padmavati, a princess of unsurpassed beauty and virtue, is said to have committed “jauhar” – ritual self-immolation – rather than submit to the advances of the sultan, Allaudin Khilji, a Muslim. Allaudin had besieged Chittorgarh and killed her husband, the Rajput king, Maharawal Ratan Singh.

But Padmavati’s story has multiple, conflicting versions – often preserved by oral transmission and multiple traditions. The fictionalisation of Padmaavat has raised controversy and indignation among political and religious groups who have criticised and heavily condemned both the amorous story between a Muslim sultan and a Hindu queen (albeit the tension in those times was more about territorial dominance than religion) and damaged Rajput pride.
 

Passing judgement

The CBFC delayed the release of the film reportedly on the grounds of an incomplete application form submitted by the filmmakers. The board also questioned whether the film was fictional or based on historical facts. However, while the CBFC, as official censor, plays the role of passing judgement on the content of a film and how it is presented, much of Padmaavat’s controversy – like some of its predecessors – is about how it is viewed by various different sections of Indian society.
 

There are several points that can be made about the way these protests have unfolded – at the core of them, a secular tension between tradition and modernity. The first is about censorship in India. The CBFC is notoriously hard to please. But more important than the CBFC is another (unofficial) censor – the Indian public themselves. And what makes the public so hard to please is that pretty much any traditional story will offend one section of society while boosting the political self-confidence of another. And, as we have seen, these protests have a tendency to be pretty strident.

And with Padmavaat we are not dealing with a straightforward historical epic, but a story which means different things to all the different groups. So while we don’t even know whether Padmavati actually existed, this account of her life – as stirring and beautiful as Bhansali has brought it to life on screen – is still churning up deep and violent passions. One thing’s for certain: it’s not easy being a film director in India.

Monia Acciari, Lecturer in Cinema and Television History, De Montfort University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Image: Javed Raja / Indian Express

My reaction is not really about the story of the film in question but the way the government and politicians are responding to it. This reflects in which direction the Indian polity is going. I wrote long back that our democracy is nothing but the chess games of dominant communities: hence the Rajputs, Reddy’s, Gujjars, Jats, Marathas, Patels, will do the things they like. The fact is that you never knew about these ‘Senas’ in earlier times but now, with a hegemonic, majoritarian Hindutva ideology in place, prominence face-offs by such groups furthers their agenda. I am sure that if Sanjay Leela Bhansali were not involved, the media would have not taken note of it and even, possibly, justified the violence.
 
Rajputs are enjoying their ‘precious’ political revival at the moment. A minuscule minority is now trying to assert itself through violent means. Democratically, Rajputs cannot get anything on their ‘not so golden’ past as they remain a mere puppet of their brahmanical masters. The fact is that the stooge of the brahmanical masters who used Manu’s rigid and much-rubbished laws to push for their ‘divinely sanctified’ supremacy are placed as heroes and those who revolted against them have been portrayed as villains.
 
I can bet, also, that this whole drama of Karni Sena is nothing but a political game to raise the public temperature and to communalise the atmosphere. Today, it is the Sanghis who are riding this tiger. But, if allowed unchecked, this Sanghi game plan will boomerang on them. The brazen plan is to reduce these entire narratives into a Hindu-Muslim binary and try and rally all castes and communities within this logic. Whatever the urban elite may say, the Sangh and the Rajputs in particularly have benefited from these stunts, politically. But it is not that Rajput politicians have been like that. Prior to this infiltration by the Sangh within the Rajputs, most of them were politically inclined towards the Janata family and actually were people wedded to notions of social justice. The Sangh’s Hindutva agenda has countered the progressive Rajputs, today. This is why V P Singh, Arjun Singh and Digvijay Singh are so hated, because of their open stand against communalism and for support to a social justice agenda. This apart, even a person like Chandrashekhar was far superior to the street leaders today cry for heads of humans and provoke violence. To understand how the ‘young’ rabble rousers have been created through foul-mouthed utterances against Muslims, it is worth tracking the career graphs of Yogi Aditynath, Sangeet Som, V K Singh, and Daya Shankar Singh (who abused BSP leader Ms Mayawati) The BJP has made his wife a minister now. Even the whole conflict at Sahranpur reveals this fault-line, Rather than taking action against the goons who burnt the houses of the Dalits, the Adityanath government continues to take action against Chandra Shekhar Azad and others of the Bheem Army. In the 1980s, Rajput leaders in Rajasthan had supported the Sati of Roop Kanwar at Deorala. Their leader Kalyan Singh Kalwi was a supporter of the practice but this support did not influence politics elsewhere and it remained confined to Rajasthan. Today, an event from the ‘Padmaavat’ film has been used to ‘organise’ the ‘community’ all over the country. There are likely  attempts to bring under the umbrella ‘those’ who till date were never ‘Rajputs’ but always ‘aspired’ to be like them. This is the new ‘show’ of ‘strength’. Though low on numerical strength, their muscle power is visible everywhere. This is an attraction for political parties of all hues who wish to use this clout for political gain.
 
The irony is that even the Dalit OBC political parties did not stand with Chandrashekhar Azad and the Bheem Army. There is no condemnation by political parties against the Rajput rampage. The same thing is happening now. The Rajput organisations have completely gone berserk because of the political patronage from the Sangh, brazenly trying to convert the entire Padmavat debate into a Hindu Muslim conflict. That is the agenda and even Bhansali could be a part of it. I do not think the film can hurt the sentiments of Rajputs. In fact, those who have seen it suggests that it glorify the feudal values and false valour.
 
Now both V K Singh as well as Digvijay Singh are saying that we should not ‘hurt’ the feelings of the community and have no right to ‘distort’ history. How can those who are converting mythology into history ever complain that someone is distorting history? Bhansali is not Salman Rushdie who can take on the religious gangs. His film would be just glorification of the Rajput pride and nothing beyond. It is not surprising, therefore, that most of political parties have kept quiet on the issue. As the rogues enter into newsrooms and bring Muslims into the central point of every debate and question, the not so hidden agenda needs to be understood. It is not merely a Rajput issue. The Sangh is not keen to make the ‘media’, art or creativity look a bit ‘different’. You have to surrender fully and Muslims and Dalits, Adivasis will always shown as villains of the piece. This further strengthens a stereotype among the people who were not ‘Hindus’. So, all the sins of the Rajput Rajas and their chelas are washed away in this overt falsification of history. No community can really gain anything with such street lumpen-ism. Worse, no state or government will get any legitimacy this way.
 
It is time we deal this issue as a law and order issue and that alone. Arrest those loudmouths openly abusing and threatening people and provoking violence. But this government will not do so. These are people who use ‘sentiments’ to increase their vote bank. They know well that elections loom large and rather than debate unemployment,  demonetisation, law and order, the impending banking crisis, violence on Dalits and other marginalised, issues of women, law and order in BJP ruled states, a public debate is being generated on a film that the courts have cleared.
 
V K Singh says that people’s opinion must be respected and I ask him whether his government will respect the Muslim community’s opinion on triple Talaq ? You want to ‘sudharo’ (improve) everyone else except the communities that have gone beserk who are today playing havoc with our country and also justifying the Varna (caste) system. Brahmanism is dying but such ignorant communities will attempt its revival without gaining any benefit from it. While Parshuram threatened the Rajputs with seven generations of annihilation, it is tragic that Rajputs are today dedicating their lives for brahmanical values. The government must assert rule of law and bring the situation to normalcy. It can’t push India to anarchy and chaos. Don’t use this unrest for your political gains as you may win the elections but India will ultimately be the loser.
 
 

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Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s latest movie, Padmavati, has run into trouble weeks before its scheduled release on December 1, 2017. Shri Rajput Karni Sena, a right-wing “nationalist” organisation, warned that there would be violent protests unless the movie was banned. Their primary concern is “historical inaccuracy”.

 Massive Rajput gathering in Gandhinagar in protest against Padmavati. Image Courtesy: NDTV

This isn’t the first time that the Karni Sena has called for the ban of a movie. In 2008, they raised objections to Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Jodhaa Akbar. They then went on to ask for a ban on the Balaji Telefilms television series by the same name, Jodhaa Akbar,that premiered in 2013.

This, also, is not the first time that the Karni Sena has raised objections to Padmavati. In January this year, Bhansali had to shift the shooting of the movie to Mumbai after some Karni Sevaks vandalised the sets in Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur. The filmmaker was also, allegedly, slapped . In March, supporters of the Sena vandalised the Chittorgarh Fort by breaking the mirrors in the Padmini Mahal—according to the folk tale, Alauddin Khilji’s first glimpse of Padmavati was of her reflection in one these mirrors, which led him to fall in love with her—claiming that the mirrors were added after Rani Padmavati’s time and therefore distorted history. The sets of the movie were also vandalised again in March , this time in Kolhapur’s Masai Plateau. In September, the Karni Sena publicly burned the posters of the movie to protest against its release.

Supporters of Karni Sena disrupt the shooting at Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur. Image Courtesy: Hindustan Times

Now, their demand is that the release of the movie be stayed till it is shown, and cleared, by a body of select Rajput organisations and historians. If the producers do not agree to this, the Karni Sena has demanded a complete ban on the movie, warning of violent protests and marches if it isn’t banned. Kota has already experienced such violence where a cinema hall was vandalised for showing the trailer of the movie.  The Rajasthan chapter of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has also extended their support to the demands of the Karni Sena. The Karni Sena has also threatened to chop off Deepika Padukone’s nose, the actress who plays Rani Padmavati, for her comments against the protests.

The primary objection that Karni Sena, and other groups supporting their demands, have with Padmavati is its portrayal of Rani Padmavati, apparently a revered figure in Rajasthani folk lore. One specific instance that has been picked up as objectionable seems to be a dream sequence in which Alauddin Khilji is seen romancing Rani Padmavati. “We have learnt that there is a dream sequence in the movie wherein Rani Padmavati has been shown romancing with Allaudin Khilji. We condemn such a heinous portrayal [of) our queen. Karni Sena will never allow such movie to hit the theatres,” said Mansinh Rathod , leader of the Gujarat chapter of the Karni Sena.

The whole thing is quite ridiculous to begin with. .

One, the historical existence of Padmavati is still debated by historians, as pointed out by eminent historian Irfan Habib . On what historical sources, then, is the Karni Sena basing their claims of historical inaccuracy? Secondly, even if they do have historical documents to support their claims, there is no reason why a movie can’t deviate from history. There is, after all, something called creative freedom. This isn’t the first time a filmmaker has taken liberties with history. Look at Mughal-e-Azam, for instance. It is one of the highest grossing films in the Indian film industry. There were significant historical inaccuracies in Mughal-e-Azam too but no one demanded its ban. Another reason that has led to the call for a ban is the dance sequence which accompanies the song “Ghoomar”, which has Rani Padmavati dancing. This, according to some , is historically inaccurate because Rajput Maharanis didn’t dance in front of anyone. Apparent,, such portrayal is disrespectful towards Rani Padmavati. Again, why such insistence on historical accuracy? Even the famous Sheesh Mahal dance sequence in Mughal-e-Azam was an anachronism, depicting a 19th century dancing style, whereas the movie was set in the 16th century. There were no objections then. Two, if someone finds the sequence disrespectful, they’re free to not watch it. But why must they not let anyone else, who may not have any issues with it, watch the movie by calling for its ban?

The Karni Sena, and any other organisation that wants to join the bandwagon, is free to criticise and point out the discrepancies between historical documents and the movie, but calling for its ban is an extreme step and takes away Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s right to make a movie.

Besides, why must a movie be judged on the basis of how historically accurate it is? Shouldn’t it be judged on other aspects, like whether its script is good enough, what the cinematography is like, how is the direction, etc? That is, ultimately, what decides how good or bad a movie is going to be. After all, there isn’t any award for the most historically accurate film. Maybe the Karni Sena should start giving out one every year, to encourage film makers to do better research.   Unfortunately for the Karni Sena, such decisions can be arrived at only after a film releases.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in
 

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"There is a disturbing trend of increasing censorships, which in the long-run is likely to undo a lot of gains were made in the past few decades. Can more and more censorships help our creative minds respond to the pace of rapid technological changes and evolution in creativity? "Ironically, while the world gets bolder, our censor authorities are getting more and more conservative," Shankar said.Referring to the hooliganism on the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansalis movie "Padmavati" in Jaipur and Kolhapur recently, he said, it seems the Censor Board is reflecting the dominant consensus of our society, while there are more and more self-appointed bodies, who have volunteered the task of censoring media and entertainment content. "What is more alarming is that increasingly even the very fora that we’d seek redressal from are more inclined to bless the street-side censorship than speak for the freedom of expression," Shankar rued.

Times are such that even after the Censor Board nod we’ve been forced to screen movies to particular group or two to ensure they are correctly depicted, he said, adding such a demand was made for the Akshay Kumar starrer "Jolly LLB-2", by wherein we were forced to screen it to a group of lawyers and doctors before the public screening.

"This was despite the movie had been certified for universal release by the board. And this is just one example. There is a long list of instances where the creative community has been bullied into changing its output to suit the needs of someone or the other," he said.

Shankar lamented that "the most worrying part is that creative minds have begun to self-censor their thoughts and have started killing ideas before they germinate so as to avoid any conflict. And this is really frightening." On the call for censorship in the online space, he said the Internet was supposed to create greater plurality of opinions, but "instead it has created a violent polarity and punishment for disagreement has become the norm now".

"There seems to be no room left to have civil debates and no place for disagreements. Punishment for disagreement has become the norm. Institutions tasked with protecting freedom of expression and plurality seem to be at loggerheads with the very objective itself," Shankar concluded.

(with inputs from PTI)

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Sruti M D is part of the editorial collective of Indian Writers' Forum

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum
 

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Professor-emeritus of the Aligarh Muslim University, Habib asserts in a strongly-worded commentary, “Padmini was not a historical character, and the story around her is a fictional legend, no more.” He adds, “It is a known fact that the character of Padmini was conceived and created by Malik Mohammad Jayasi in 1540.”

The character appears in his “famous poem called Padmavat, written in Awadhi but in Persian script”, says Habib, adding, “Jayasi's Padmini was a princess from Simhala-dvipa (Sri Lanka). In modern terminology, it was a historical fiction, which had historical characters like Alauddin Khilji and Rana Rattan Singh.”

Pointing out that “no medieval historical record alludes to her existence before Jayasi's Padmavat”, Habib says, “Amir Khusrau, who accompanied Alauddin Khilji in his expedition against Chittor, does not refer to it. Even Jayasi never claimed that he is chronicling history.”

Habib says, “No contemporary historian, including the most authoritative ones on Rajasthan like Gauri Shankar Ojha, mention anything about Padmini.” He quotes well-known conservative historian RC Majumdar as saying about Padmini that "it is impossible, at the present state of our knowledge, to regard it as a historical fact".

“It is no surprise that Padmini acquired great prominence in the bardic chronicles of Rajputana”, says 
 

Padmini in a story book depicted as performing "jauhar" to escape Khilji's clutches

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The demand was raised at a joint press conference which was convened by Rajput Sabha to announce that they and Karni Sena agree over the demand that there will no distortion of historic facts in the movie.

However, the president of the Rajput Sabha said that they have also demanded that a screening committee be formed by the group to screen the movie before its release but Bhansali productions are yet to act on the request.

During the press conference, some of the members of the Karni Sena raised another demand that the film’s title should be changed and there should be no film in the name of “Padmavati” at all which was supported by the state President of Karni Sena Mahipal Singh.

“There is no romantic dream sequence or any objectionable/ romantic scene between Rani Padmavati and Allauddin Khijli. It was not a part of the script. It was misconception and considering the sentiments of the community, we have clarified to them,” Shobha Sant, CEO of the Bhansali Productions said.

“We are trying to present Rani Padmavati’s courageous nature. We will make the film which will make the country proud on Rani Padmavati,” she said.

Mahipal said he put forward the sentiments of the youths of the Rajput community by demanding the title change.

“We are thankful to the Bhansali productions that they have agreed to our demand that there will be no distortion of the historic facts in the movie,” he said.

Sant, however, said the demand to change the title did not come up in their previous discussions with the group.

“They have made this fresh demand for which I have nothing to say anything. This is not in my jurisdiction. They also did not raise this point in our discussion held before,” Sant said.

Karni Sena members created a ruckus and manhandled Bhansali while the director was shooting the movie at Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur on Friday.

The incident drew sharp reactions from the film industry with members demanding action against the miscreants.

Bhansali’s production house released a statement clarifying the “misconception” about the story but the team also cancelled its shooting in the city.
 

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राजस्थान के जयपुर के जयगढ़ किले में चल रही संजय लीला भंसाली की पीरियड ड्रामा फिल्म ‘पद्मावती’ की शूटिंग के दौरान राजपूत करणी सेना के कार्यकर्ताओं ने जमकर हंगामा मचाया और तोड़-फोड़ की। हाथा-पाई के दौरान प्रदर्शनकारियों ने भंसाली को थप्पड़ भी मार दिया।

मीडिया रिपोर्ट्स के मुताबिक, करणी सेना का कहना है कि उन्हें अलाउद्दीन खिलजी और रानी पद्मावती के बीच कथित रूप से फिल्माए जा रहे लव सीन पर आपत्ति है। फिल्म में शाहिद कपूर, रणवीर सिंह और दीपिका पादुकोण प्रमुख भूमिकाओं में हैं। दीपिका चित्तौड़ की रानी पद्मावती की भूमिका निभा रही हैं।

हंगामा करने वाले संगठन करणी सेना का दावा है कि संजय लीला भंसाली ने अपनी फिल्म पद्मावती में अलाउद्दीन खिलजी और रानी पद्मावती के बीच एक बेहद आपत्तिजनक सीन डाला है।

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter
 

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