Padmavati producers ready to show film to Rajput representatives

After all the brouhaha, it seems that the voices dissenting against Padmavati are mellowing down after the producer, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, agreed to show the film to the agitating fringe groups once it is certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

"We are first looking at the censor board [for clearance] and then we don’t have a problem [to show the film] because they are imagining something different and we would like to quell all these doubts first," Viacom18 Motion Pictures chief operating officer Ajit Andhare told the Press Trust of India news agency. "But ideally we want to get the certificate first."

Andhare acknowledged that the producers had received some representations to view the film.

The primary grouse of the fringe Rajput groups is the alleged distortion of history by director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The groups have protesting against an alleged dream sequence involving the queen Padmavati and Delhi sultan Alauddin Khilji.

"We do not have a problem [in screening the film]," Andhare said. "Please realize this is unprecedented, this is not how it is supposed to be done. What they [certain sections of people] are saying is not in the film, we do not have anything to hide. We are going to this length as we want to quell the controversy; it is a needless controversy. The film doesn’t need it. The film has its own merit and we just want that the censor board gives us a screening date so that we can take it ahead. The ball is in the censors' court."

Padmavati was sent to the CBFC, popularly known as the censor board, last week and the makers are yet to hear from it.

Meanwhile, RP Singh, president of the Akhand Rajputana Seva Sangh, revealed that he has had discussions with Viacom18 and Bhansali Productions and the filmmakers have agreed to show the film to a team of representatives of the community to allay their fears.

"On Saturday night, we got a call from Mahavir Jain, media consultant for both Bhansali Productions and Viacom18, who also took Shobha Sant [CEO of Bhansali Productions] on the call. Both promised to show us the film on a date between November 15 and 18. So, we have decided to stall our protest till then,” Singh told the Indian Express newspaper.

Singh added that a delagation of 11 representatives of the Rajput community will be watching the film. "A group of 11 people from our community will be shown the film. They also mentioned Union sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, but we are not sure if he will be part of the delegation. If this group is satisfied with the film, we will give full support to Padmavati," he said. 

Padmavati is set to be released on 1 December. You can make a prediction about the film's box-office performance here.