A group of activists forced stopped the shooting of the Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next directorial venture by vandalising the set at Jaigarh Fort, of Jaipur and also assaulted him.
Bhansali was slapped and his hair was pulled at the Jaigarh Fort by members of the Rajput Karni Sena who stormed the film sets and vandalised equipment. They allege that the film shows much-celebrated Rajput queen in poor light. Padmavati, a historical drama, is based on the story of Queen Padmini, who famously refused to submit to emperor Alauddin Khilji when he arrived at the Chittorgarh fort with his army and killed herself along with scores of other women before he could storm the fort.
The protesters allege that the film has love scenes between Queen Padmini and Alauddin Khilji, played by actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh.
The Rajput Karni Sena has demanded that Mr Bhansali delete such scenes in the film if any. “We had warned the filmmaker against presenting wrong facts. When we came to know about the shooting, we gathered there and protested,” said a leader of the group, Narayan Singh.
The Jaipur Police has been quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying that Bhansali has decided to stop filming in the area. “The filmmakers have assured that they will not shoot here and will pack up,” police said.
