Padmavati: Vaghela demands pre-screening for Kshatriya and Hindu leaders, warns of violence otherwise

Former Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela has demanded that Sanjay Leela Bhansali must screen Deepika Padukone’s Padmavati for Hindu and Kshatriya leaders before the release.

Former Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela has demanded a pre-release screening of Deepika Padukone’-starrer Padmavati for Hindu and Kshatriya community leaders to check whether facts have been distorted in the film and warned of violent protests if its makers failed to do so.

Deepika Padukone-starrer Padmavati has been at the centre of controversies ever since the shooting began. Shankersinh Vaghela now wants pre-screening of the film for Kshatriya and Hindu leaders.

“As the movie is expected to be released on December 1, I want Bhansali to first show it to Hindu as well as Kshatriya leaders as people suspect that some facts have been distorted and presented in a wrong way in the movie,” the Kshatriya strongman said.

Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Padmavati stars also Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor and is slated for a theatrical release on December 1.

Vaghela said one cannot tamper with historical facts and present them as per one’s wishes to get “cheap publicity”. “If the movie is released without pre-screening, Gujarat will witness violent protests and law and order may go out of control. I apologise to the cinema owners in advance if people take law into their hands,” the former Gujarat chief minister said.

The upcoming movie had earlier run into controversy after Rajasthan-based Rajput community group Karni Sena raised objections over depictions in the movie, claiming that history was being distorted. Earlier this year, Bhansali was attacked by Karni Sena members during the shooting of the film in Rajasthan.

Last month, alleged Karni Sena members burnt posters of the film after the first look of main characters -- Padmavati (Deepika Padukone), Maharawal Ratan Singh (Shahid Kapoor) and Allaudin Khilji (Ranveer Singh) -- was released.

They also threatened to oppose the screening of the movie in theaters if the facts were distorted.

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