Padmaavat team asks government to interfere

The film has been banned in the BJP-controlled states of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Team Padmaavat is now making a concerted effort to make sure that the bans are lifted from various states, before the film hits the screens in a little more than a week’s time. “It is rather unfortunate that the leadership is banning a film that has been cleared by the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC). The team is now speaking to relevant people in the top brass of the central government, to intervene and allow the film to release. If there are law and order threats, the state governments should use all their might to curb that,” says an insider.

Theatre owners across Rajasthan and Gujarat have expressed the desire to screen the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed film, and have told producers the same. However, they are looking to receive the government’s backing in maintaining security even if the ban on the film is lifted.

A senior trade expert opines that the losses to theatres could be huge if the state governments do not provide adequate security, even if the ban is off. “It is not just about the ban. Theatres cannot afford to risk damage to their property as well as expensive equipment that is placed there. Most multiplexes are located in expensive malls and the risk is not just to the theatres but also to those malls that house these cinemas,” he says.

The film has been banned in the BJP-controlled states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. It was speculated that the film will be banned in Himachal Pradesh, but it will finally release in the state as well.