Dear Censor Board, Why Is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati Getting Special Treatment?

The Censor Board of Film Certification in India is creating history by involving historians and royals to make a judgment on the fate of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati.

If the recent reports are to be believed, a six-member panel has been appointed to review the case of Padmavati next month. CBFC has brought in two historians namely: B L Gupta and R S Khangarot. They will view the movie along with two more members and decide whether the film distorts history or not. Despite repeated press releases and statements by the cast and crew of Padmavati that they’ve not tampered with history and there’s no scene between Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone (Khilji and Padmavati), CBFC and Karni Sena  haven’t been convinced enough to let the film enjoy a smooth release.

Eminent film critic Raja Sen expressed his views on Twitter, calling CBFC - Cowardly Board of Fickle Chickens. What’s extremely preposterous about this decision regarding the certification of Padmavati, is the fact that this panel also consists of royal family members from Jaipur. This is the first time in the history of Indian cinema that outsiders who are not a part of CBFC are getting to take a landmark decision on a filmmaker’s magnum opus, only out of shockingly violent protests and threats from Karni Sena. It almost seems like CBFC is making a mockery out of freedom of speech and expression, the personal security of artists and giving the reigns of a task to outsiders in the name of destructive elements who are posing threats to the release of a film. There was even a bounty of 10 cr announced on beheading Sanjay Leela Bhansali and maiming Deepika’s nose.

Read more: Delay in Padmavati causes 200 Cr loss for Bollywood 

Padmavati controversy and its certification are becoming a curious case of overstretched and wrongly debated film of all time. Although it is not the first time when a religious or social group is objecting to a historic movie. Back in 2010, director Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodha Akbar was in trouble due to protests by Akhil Bharatiya Rajput Abhivakta Sangh president Arvind Thakur, Punjab Vishwa Hindu Parishad spokesman Vijay Singh Bhardwaj and International Hindu Sanrakshak Parishad General Secretary Shiv Murti Yadav. According to a report in TOI, “The complaint alleged the film sought to promote enmity between different classes and contained words with the intent of hurting religious feelings.” But, this happened around the release of the film, and the film did enjoy a smooth release despite protests by Rajput and Hindu groups. The CBFC didn’t include any outside member panel to review the fate of the movie.

In a desperate attempt to calm down the protests, eminent broadcast journalists from reputed TV news channels were made to watch Padmavati by the makers and they also clarified that the movie doesn’t show any relationship or scene between Alauddin Khilji and Rani Padmavati. That did no good to the naysayers and protests continued.

There were probable disruptions around the release of Hrithik Roshan starer Mohenjo Daro about the facts and representation of the civilization in the movie, but it enjoyed a smooth release without any cuts from the CBFC.

The biggest paradox in the entire process of protests and delay in the release of Padmavati is a simple fact that CBFC and the protestors are wasting time on a movie which is actually based on a fictional character. Rani Padmini was a fictional character in the epic fictionalized poem written by Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1540 CE. Padmavati never existed in real life. So unless CBFC really fell in love with Phillauri and has started believing in ghosts, we failed filmmaking and wasted months in fighting over someone who never existed in the first place.