After the entire row over the movie ‘Padmavati’, it will be finally released on January 25, a day before Republic Day. In a country where freedom of expression has certain strings, Censor Board cleared the movie Padmavat now with 300 cuts.
After fiasco between Karni Sena, a fringe group,and Central Board of FilmCertification (CFBC), the controversial movie is all set to release with some changes and little amendments. However, the name was renamed Padmavat which was earlier Padmavati.
Just when you thought that it was but the title that was changed, a report by Mumbai mirror says that all the references to Delhi, Chittor, and Mewar have been dropped from the film. These places act as an ancillary and important context to the historical nature of the film.
The diktats and orders rolled out by the Censor Board has coerced Sanjay Leela Bhansali to incorporate some changes in the movie. The noted lyricist-writer Prasoon Joshi is the head of the Censor Board. There are 300 cuts in the movie, for a wonder.
There has been no amelioration even after the entry of Prasoon Joshi. The hopes have been dashed, out and out. Things were grave and worst in the case of the former Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani and it seems that they are not on the mend even now.
All hell broke loose when Udta Punjab was in the picture for its cuts. Nihalani caused brouhaha when he asked for 94 cuts in the movie in 2016 along with the title word -Punjab, which was undoubtedly preposterous.
The current leadership has followed in the footsteps by dropping the references to regions. There will be no historical context without regional references which will effectively damage the narrative and the specificity of the 180-crore budget magnum opus.
The producers of Udta Punjab – Ekta Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap went to the Bombay High Court to get their film cleared (only a few minor cuts were imposed). However, that’s not the case with Padmavat, whose delay has already cost a bomb to the producers Viacom Motion Pictures.
There will be a nip and tuck competition between the two movies next week. Akshay Kumar’s Padman releases a day after Padmavat. It will be interesting to see the fight between movies which have grabbed the attention of the public. Here’s wishing both the movies best of luck!
