CJI downplays Padmavat controversy

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Mishra on Thursday downplayed the 'Padmavat' controversy stating that if the apex court upheld the right of the producer to show 'Bandit Queen', then 'Padmavat' was nothing.

The magnum opus had been facing protests from various groups, particularly from the Rajput Karni Sena, for allegedly tampering historical facts.

"Many states issued directions banning screening of 'Padmavat'. I cannot really conceive how a film can be banned. If this court upheld the right of the producer to show 'Bandit Queen', then 'Padmavat' was nothing. It is a poem presented in celluloid, that's what court said," Misra said while addressing a gathering here.

States like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, had protested that the film will not be allowed to be released in November last year.

The protesters said changing the name of the film from 'Padmavati' to Padmavat was not enough. They also requested the censor body that they should not do anything which in turn would hurt anyone's cultural beliefs.

The flick, based on the legend of Rani Padmini, a 13th century Hindu Rajput queen, mentioned in Padmavat, an Avadhi poem written by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1540, had been facing protests from various groups.

The CBFC had also suggested five modifications in 'Padmavati', which included changing the film's title to 'Padmavat', in December last year.

The movie featured Deepika Padukone in the title role as Rani Padmavati, alongside Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Sultan Alauddin Khilji.