A public-interest litigation (PIL) was initiated in the Delhi high court on Thursday to set up a committee of historians and social activists ahead of the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's controversial period drama Padmavati on 1 December.
The PIL by the hitherto unknown Akhand Rashtrawadi Party said the committee headed by a retired Delhi high court judge should include a member of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and ensure that there is no "distortion" in historic facts relating to queen Padmini of Chittor and no sentiments are hurt by the film.
"The petitioner has come to know from reliable sources that the movie portrays the imaginary or fictitious character of Rani Padmavati and there is distortion of historic facts about her. No individual or group has any right to play with the sentiments or emotions of any caste or community by distorting Indian history or a historic icon," said the plea.
The plea said the CBFC must examine/re-examine the film's contents with the help of historians or authors with excellent knowledge of historic facts about Padmavati, so that a wrong image of the queen is not brought before people and public sentiments are not hurt.
The petition, filed by lawyer Puneesh Grover, made the Union information and broadcasting ministry, producer Viacom18 Motion Pictures, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the film's scriptwriter and the CBFC respondents.