Exclusive: Anurag Kashyap slams move to ask historians to review Padmavati

The decision of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) led by Prasoon Joshi to appoint a panel of historians to review Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati for historical accuracy has come as a surprise.

While most in the film fraternity are keeping their opinions to themselves, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap severely criticized the move.

Speaking exclusively to Cinestaan.com, Kashyap said, “I wonder why we need to do that when we have the CBFC. And who are these historians? What makes them historians? Just because they teach history? Even historians may have their own point of view. So what if they don’t approve the film? Will you not let it be released?”

Bhansali has been accused by a hitherto unknown group claiming to speak for the Rajput community and by a few members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of distorting history and sacrificing accuracy. But Kashyap said accuracy in feature films is a myth.

“No film is accurate," the filmmaker said. "Not just a historic film but any film for that matter. Can you name one film which is accurate? You can’t.”