A young man in Rajasthan climbed atop a 350-feet tall mobile tower with a bottle of petrol, on Monday. This was in an attempt to demand a countrywide ban on the much-criticised and controversial Indian film ‘Padmaavat’, originally titled Padmavati.
A youth has climbed a 350 feet tall mobile tower with a bottle of petrol in Bhilwara; the protester is saying ‘will come down only when #Padmaavat is banned in the country’ #Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/h65ctfbWq1
— ANI (@ANI) January 22, 2018
In Rajasthan, protests against the film have strengthened ever since the Supreme Court gave credence to its countrywide release on January 25. Thousands of woman took to the streets on Sunday wielding swords in a ‘Chetavani Rally’ (warning march) in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh town, in further attempts of demanding a ban on the film and threatening to commit self-immolation (jauhar) if the authorities fail to stop its release.
Based on the poem Padmavat, written by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi in the 15th century, the ballad tells the tale of the beautiful Rani Padmini of Chittor (Deepika) and Turkish invader Alauddin Khilji’s (Ranveer) pursuit of her.
The film angered many of the Shree Rajput Karni Sena who made claims that it distorted historical facts related to the Rajput community.
Protests were even led against the film by controversial Haryana BJP leader Suraj Pal Amu who offered a price of Rs 10 crore as “reward to behead” Bhansali as well as the film’s lead actor Deepika Padukone.