Ever since it was announced the film has been attracting all kinds of negative publicity . There have been reports about distorting history, taking artistic freedom too far and so.. The sets were damaged and so on. Now that it is ready for release ( the official date is December 1) there are more controversies and threats by all political parties . What are your views on this issue ?
No doubt, Padamavati is a fictional character in Jayasi's work. The movie is based on that. The author is free to give an expression to the story. I have another point to make. The tradition like Johar/ Sati should not be encouraged any way. The movie appears to be glorifying Johar. What is Johar? This is nothing but burning alive so as not to be caught by the victorious army of a Muslim ruler. There is no johar in case of attack by Hindu king. Johar is for 'protecting honor'. The question is why only women only and not men were burnt in such defeat at hand of a ruler of another religion. This practice gives undue importance to chastity especially when that is likely to be outraged by some one not belonging to Hindu religion. Then how does Mans honor differ from that of woman. A man's honor lies in his turban whereas a woman's in her private part. How disgusting!
Nasty allegations are the proof that the protesters are simply trying to satisfy their own ego which is unacceptable. First of all no one is sure about Rani Padmavati's existence. Have a look:
https://www.thequint.com/news/india/padmavati-the-story-behind-rani-padmini-rajput-queen.
Shampa Sadhya wrote:Nasty allegations are the proof that the protesters are simply trying to satisfy their own ego which is unacceptable. First of all no one is sure about Rani Padmavati's existence. Have a look:
https://www.thequint.com/news/india/padmavati-the-story-behind-rani-padmini-rajput-queen.
Even if Padmini existed and the story was true , I don't see why there is such a hue and cry over the film that is yet to be released. I feel that to a great extent it is because of Bhansalis reputation for distorting history . For most Rajputs Padimini's story is real and inspirational and they wouldn't want that image tampered on the screen.
I don't support these nasty protests. They infact have gone to the extent that it brings shame to the community. I belong to the community and I am not the voice of the protests. It has taken a political color.
But Usha is correct. India has cultural diversity and film maker should be sensitive. We don't know about existence of many mystical characters. They are taken as ideals in different culture and have emotional and ideological significance. Logic fails when it comes to ideological and cultural significance.
Bhansali had a similar situation earlier also and he should have been more cautious now.
Now they have movie with name Sexy Durga. It will definitely raise protest. Many girls are named Durga but to give such name to movie will definitely hurt community sentiments.
Arunima Singh wrote:I don't support these nasty protests. They infact have gone to the extent that it brings shame to the community. I belong to the community and I am not the voice of the protests. It has taken a political color.
But Usha is correct. India has cultural diversity and film maker should be sensitive. We don't know about existence of many mystical characters. They are taken as ideals in different culture and have emotional and ideological significance. Logic fails when it comes to ideological and cultural significance.
Bhansali had a similar situation earlier also and he should have been more cautious now.
Now they have movie with name Sexy Durga. It will definitely raise protest. Many girls are named Durga but to give such name to movie will definitely hurt community sentiments.
I would beg to differ. Every time a community will protest and the creative person has to bow down. Why people do not learn to take a movie as a wholesome entertainment? It is just a movie based upon some story and not upon some truth. So, why so much fuss. The Board is there to look into it but no, the common man becomes the self appointed authority That's the biggest problem of our country.
Shampa Sadhya wrote:Arunima Singh wrote:I don't support these nasty protests. They infact have gone to the extent that it brings shame to the community. I belong to the community and I am not the voice of the protests. It has taken a political color.
But Usha is correct. India has cultural diversity and film maker should be sensitive. We don't know about existence of many mystical characters. They are taken as ideals in different culture and have emotional and ideological significance. Logic fails when it comes to ideological and cultural significance.
Bhansali had a similar situation earlier also and he should have been more cautious now.
Now they have movie with name Sexy Durga. It will definitely raise protest. Many girls are named Durga but to give such name to movie will definitely hurt community sentiments.
I would beg to differ. Every time a community will protest and the creative person has to bow down. Why people do not learn to take a movie as a wholesome entertainment? It is just a movie based upon some story and not upon some truth. So, why so much fuss. The Board is there to look into it but no, the common man becomes the self appointed authority That's the biggest problem of our country.
I agree with you and many more would. But India has a huge diversity. And one can not ignore the fact that at no point, one should ignore sentiments of even a small fraction. It can soon take a religious and political color and take an ugly look. Moreover, it is not only in India, but in other countries too as mentioned by Usha, that protests occur over religious sentiments.
Nobody tries their creative license to hurt minorities in the country and if they do it knowing or unknowingly, they come forward to fix the damage. Be it creative license of any artist, he comes with a responsibility too. M.F. Hussain never experimented with painting Allah and Jesus. So why was his creative experiments limited to Hindu goddesses. Kamal Hassan had a screening of his movie for minorities. So either we have to be secular and mature for all such sentiments and ignore them all as foolishness or the same treatment has to be given across the communities.
Even if it is sentiments of a handful of morons or attention seeking sociopolitical goons, one can not take a chance to upset them and create disturbances.
Sad, but that is the practical status.
by Arunima Singh » 6 hours ago
I agree with you and many more would. But India has a huge diversity. And one can not ignore the fact that at no point, one should ignore sentiments of even a small fraction. It can soon take a religious and political color and take an ugly look. Moreover, it is not only in India, but in other countries too as mentioned by Usha, that protests occur over religious sentiments.
Nobody tries their creative license to hurt minorities in the country and if they do it knowing or unknowingly, they come forward to fix the damage. Be it creative license of any artist, he comes with a responsibility too. M.F. Hussain never experimented with painting Allah and Jesus. So why was his creative experiments limited to Hindu goddesses. Kamal Hassan had a screening of his movie for minorities. So either we have to be secular and mature for all such sentiments and ignore them all as foolishness or the same treatment has to be given across the communities.
Even if it is sentiments of a handful of morons or attention seeking sociopolitical goons, one can not take a chance to upset them and create disturbances.
Sad, but that is the practical status.
I totally agree with those views. Rules are made by the people for the people taking the majority interest into account while making sure that minority opinion is not hurt. However, here the situation has been let to go too far I feel ..any issue that has the potential to become explosive should be nipped in the bud .
The pseudo secular intellect brigade open their mouths only when it comes to minorities. They are lip tight and undergo hibernation when it is the majority in concern.
I don't support the ugly violent protests. But then Bhansali should not call it a historical movie. He can just call it as a fictional story.
Padmavati might be a mystical character. But then she was portrayed as a queen. No queen in history dances for performances. Any those who are sensitive about it will definitely be hurt. I love the song and dance by Deepika, but Padmavati would have never danced like that. That is definitely not the case with queens. He could have gone ahead with fictional movie and added all masala and modifying the story. But to make it on a character that a community awe is not going to be accepted by all. And emotional and cultural sentiments do not see logic
Re: Never ending controversy surrounding Padmavathy ..
I would beg to differ. Every time a community will protest and the creative person has to bow down. Why people do not learn to take a movie as a wholesome entertainment? It is just a movie based upon some story and not upon some truth. So, why so much fuss. The Board is there to look into it but no, the common man becomes the self appointed authority That's the biggest problem of our country.
I think that is the whole point , if Bhansali makes a statement saying that it is a fictional account , things would have been different. If we look back, we see that he and the stars of the film have been going on and on about how they are trying to capture history through sets and costumes and trying to be authentic..at the same time they speak of artistic freedom ! Highly confusing and opportunistic given the sensitive atmosphere prevailing , all thanks to years of communalisation and divisive policies adopted
Arunima Singh wrote:Shampa Sadhya wrote:Arunima Singh wrote:I don't support these nasty protests. They infact have gone to the extent that it brings shame to the community. I belong to the community and I am not the voice of the protests. It has taken a political color.
But Usha is correct. India has cultural diversity and film maker should be sensitive. We don't know about existence of many mystical characters. They are taken as ideals in different culture and have emotional and ideological significance. Logic fails when it comes to ideological and cultural significance.
Bhansali had a similar situation earlier also and he should have been more cautious now.
Now they have movie with name Sexy Durga. It will definitely raise protest. Many girls are named Durga but to give such name to movie will definitely hurt community sentiments.
I would beg to differ. Every time a community will protest and the creative person has to bow down. Why people do not learn to take a movie as a wholesome entertainment? It is just a movie based upon some story and not upon some truth. So, why so much fuss. The Board is there to look into it but no, the common man becomes the self appointed authority That's the biggest problem of our country.
I agree with you and many more would. But India has a huge diversity. And one can not ignore the fact that at no point, one should ignore sentiments of even a small fraction. It can soon take a religious and political color and take an ugly look. Moreover, it is not only in India, but in other countries too as mentioned by Usha, that protests occur over religious sentiments.
Nobody tries their creative license to hurt minorities in the country and if they do it knowing or unknowingly, they come forward to fix the damage. Be it creative license of any artist, he comes with a responsibility too. M.F. Hussain never experimented with painting Allah and Jesus. So why was his creative experiments limited to Hindu goddesses. Kamal Hassan had a screening of his movie for minorities. So either we have to be secular and mature for all such sentiments and ignore them all as foolishness or the same treatment has to be given across the communities.
Even if it is sentiments of a handful of morons or attention seeking sociopolitical goons, one can not take a chance to upset them and create disturbances.
Sad, but that is the practical status.
I don't disagree with you. What I feel is that people have a lot of time to invest in protesting against a movie and all. If their sentiment is hurt then they can simply boycott it. If the moviegoers do not watch it then certainly the producer will incur a huge loss and that will be a lesson for them. I absolutely agree that it should not be promoted as a historical movie. By saying that the movie is based upon a fiction would have not created any trouble.
Just listen to the poem by Atalji. It shows how strongly rooted is the faith and how it is taken as a national pride by many.
usha manohar wrote:Re: Never ending controversy surrounding Padmavathy ..
I would beg to differ. Every time a community will protest and the creative person has to bow down. Why people do not learn to take a movie as a wholesome entertainment? It is just a movie based upon some story and not upon some truth. So, why so much fuss. The Board is there to look into it but no, the common man becomes the self appointed authority That's the biggest problem of our country.
I think that is the whole point , if Bhansali makes a statement saying that it is a fictional account , things would have been different. If we look back, we see that he and the stars of the film have been going on and on about how they are trying to capture history through sets and costumes and trying to be authentic..at the same time they speak of artistic freedom ! Highly confusing and opportunistic given the sensitive atmosphere prevailing , all thanks to years of communalisation and divisive policies adopted
Very true! And when we speak about creative freedom, I would really like to ask if creative people are really not free in this country or they are suppressed? If this freedom didn't exist, then would Bhansali have had the guts to make such a movie at all in the first place? Just as he feels it is his rights to twist history in any degrading manner as he pleases, similarly others too have the right to protest against what his so-called creative work is, albeit I agree it has gone in too far. But would he dare make a similarly degrading film on the exploits of the Muslim rulers with their eunuch consorts and tender young girls??? Would he dare show the TRUE facts? So why call India regressive when Indians will not accept the twisted and false version of his history? Why do only Hindus are expected to take a step back for fear of appeasing others?
@ Kalyani , each time someone depicts Hindu gods and goddesses in a disrespectful manner in either art form.or in literature, one can be sure that there is enough number of people to support the person, calling it artistic freedom , when it is a question of a minority religion , the same people day it is intolerance. The politicians starting with the left parties and some of the so called intellectual class are mainly behind this . No wonder now the Hindus are going all out ...one should be looking for cause rather than effect.
usha manohar wrote:@ Kalyani , each time someone depicts Hindu gods and goddesses in a disrespectful manner in either art form.or in literature, one can be sure that there is enough number of people to support the person, calling it artistic freedom , when it is a question of a minority religion , the same people day it is intolerance. The politicians starting with the left parties and some of the so called intellectual class are mainly behind this . No wonder now the Hindus are going all out ...one should be looking for cause rather than effect.
Exactly Usha, that is what I feel. Everything that is related to Hindu is considered outdated and regressive, even the history is twisted and presented in a perverted manner and when such things are opposed, it is the suppression of creative freedom. Why not make films based on true facts and true history. The fact is that it is the so-called seculars and leftists and their openly antinational tendencies that try to create chaos in the society and blame it on Hindus when they oppose such sickeningly creative ventures.
No wonder then that so excited filmmakers take far too many liberties with history . It happened when Sanjay Khan made the mega serial Tipu Sultan totally distorting facts because he supported a certain political party. There were protests and a set was burnt ,Sanjay Khan too had burn injuries on his face and went through a harrowing period. Finally a revised version was shot . The irony is that while Tipu is being glorified by the Karnataka government for their own ulterior motives, the descendents of Tipu are living in virtual poverty , not even getting a fair share in the inheritance and wealth that Tipu had amassed.
Now that the film has gotten embroiled in legal issues it remains to be seen as to what the outcome would be . I have seen the trailer and the song Ghoomer which I may say is beautifully picturised. I wish Sanjay Leela Bhansali remains a little more practical with regard to public sentiments that has become overtly sensitive now after taking decades of bashing. He is a fine film maker and his films are well made and a treat to watch but he tends to take his artistic freedom a bit too far ..
@kiran8