Pahlaj Nihalani condemns assault on Bhansali, calls for stringent action against guilty

Censuring the attack on director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairman Pahlaj Nihalani on Saturday said that if a stringent action is not taken against the goons of moral ethnicity, the tourism of Rajasthan will soon begin to die.

Nihalani further said that it's not something new that such incident has happened in Rajasthan, as the people over there file court cases by merely watching the teaser of a film.

The CBFC chairman also said, "If the government doesn't wake up now and take strict measures against such happenings, the Indian cinema industry will begin to wither."

"People should have patience to wait and judge a film by watching the whole film rather than creating a ruckus by merely watching the teaser," he added.

Members of the Raput Karni Sena had, on Friday, slapped, beaten and pulled Bhansali's clothes on the sets of 'Padmavati' at the historic Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur.

The Karni Sena has alleged 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 miscreants also 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 the deletion of such scenes in the film if any.