On Wednesday there was uncertainty and fear surrounding the future of&nbsp;Padmavati. Will the producers Viacom 18 Motion Pictures actually be able to release the film in spite of the threat? The fringe group claiming to represent the Rajput&nbsp;community has sent out threatening letters to individual multiplex theatres across the country.

A worried manager of a leading multiplex told me, &ldquo;Even if we overlook the threat and decide to release&nbsp;the&nbsp;film the mall owners would be worried about the security&nbsp;of the shoppers.&nbsp;So if the mall owner says no, we can&rsquo;t release&nbsp;Padmaavat. And what about the patrons who come to see&nbsp;PadMan?&nbsp;They will be scared away because of the violent&nbsp;treats&nbsp;for&nbsp;Padamavat.&rdquo;

But on Thursday the clouds of doubts were partially dispelled when the honourable Supreme Court ruled against the ban imposed on the film by 4 Indian states.

Not just Sanjay&nbsp;Leela&nbsp;Bhansali&nbsp;the entire film industry, petrified to speak up, breathed a sigh of relief.&nbsp;One&nbsp;of&nbsp;the first filmmakers to react with unbridled joy at the SC&rsquo;s verdict was R&nbsp;&nbsp;Balki&nbsp;whose&nbsp;PadMan&nbsp;gets directly affected by the release of&nbsp;Padmavati&nbsp;on the same day.

Says&nbsp;Balki, &ldquo;This is a victory democracy, the right&nbsp;to freedom of expression and for the film industry being held at ransom by fringe groups. I can&rsquo;t even begin to imagine the&nbsp; relief that Viacom 18 and&nbsp;Sanjay&nbsp;Leela&nbsp;Bhansali&nbsp;must be feeling.&rdquo;

It is good to hear a&nbsp; voice from the film industry finally&nbsp;speak up. There has been a strange quietude among&nbsp;&nbsp;Sanjay&nbsp;Bhansali&rsquo;s colleagues. Perhaps they are too scared to speak up. A&nbsp;prominent actor who is a member&nbsp;of parliament had promised to raise the&nbsp;Padmavat&nbsp;issue in parliament. That actor is now&nbsp;tightlipped,&nbsp;afraid to talk.

&ldquo;It is not fear of the fringe groups that&nbsp;keeps&nbsp;me from raising my voice in parliament. It is the fear of being proven wrong.&nbsp;What if tomorrow, when the film releases and it has something genuinely&nbsp;objectionable in it?&nbsp; Even earlier in&nbsp;Bajirao&nbsp;Mastani,&nbsp;Bhansali&nbsp;had portrayed the Maratha warrior as dancing to an aggressive song.&nbsp;What if&nbsp;something like&nbsp;that pops up in&nbsp;Padmavat?&rdquo;&nbsp;asks this&nbsp;otherwise-fearless parliamentarian.

Wait-and-watch&nbsp;seems to&nbsp;be&nbsp;the policy&nbsp;regarding&nbsp;Padmaavat. In the days before the release of the volatile film on January&nbsp;25, we can expect several&nbsp;private screenings&nbsp;for&nbsp;various influential&nbsp;elements including perhaps&nbsp;some&nbsp;leaders from&nbsp;the&nbsp;fringe groups.

Back&nbsp;at the&nbsp;Bhansalis&rsquo;&nbsp;residence, there was cautious&nbsp;optimism about&nbsp;the SC&nbsp; order to&nbsp;ban&nbsp;the ban, so to speak. Minutes after the&nbsp; SC&nbsp; verdict the filmmaker who hasn&rsquo;t slept much in recent weeks was on the&nbsp;phone&nbsp;in a&nbsp;huddle over&nbsp;release plans. A&nbsp; close family member said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s&nbsp;great&nbsp;to hear&nbsp;the&nbsp; Supreme&nbsp; Court lift the ban. But will the States pay ahead? And&nbsp; more importantly, will &nbsp;the&nbsp; fringe groups listen to the&nbsp; verdict?&rdquo;

Good point, that.&nbsp; Just an hour after the SC&rsquo;s&nbsp; wonderful&nbsp;verdict theatre&nbsp;owners received&nbsp;renewed warnings.

A&nbsp; theatre owner in&nbsp;Bihar&nbsp;says he is not releasing&nbsp;the on&nbsp;January 25. &ldquo;Even ifNitishji&nbsp;doesn&rsquo;t&nbsp;ban the&nbsp;film I won&rsquo;t&nbsp;release&nbsp;the&nbsp;film on 25th. I will see how it goes&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;other theatres on January 25 and&nbsp;&nbsp;release&nbsp;the&nbsp; film accordingly on January 26.&rdquo;

Long live democracy.

&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

A close family member of Sanjay Bhansali said. “It’s great to hear the Supreme Court lift the ban. But will the States pay ahead? And more importantly, will the fringe groups listen to the verdict?”

On Wednesday there was uncertainty and fear surrounding the future of Padmavati. Will the producers Viacom 18 Motion Pictures actually be able to release the film in spite of the threat? The fringe group claiming to represent the Rajput community has sent out threatening letters to individual multiplex theatres across the country. A worried manager of a leading multiplex told me, “Even if we overlook the threat and decide to release the film the mall owners would be worried about the security of the shoppers. So if the mall owner says no, we can’t release Padmaavat. And what about the patrons who come to see PadMan? They will be scared away because of the violent treats for Padamavat.” But on Thursday the clouds of doubts were partially dispelled when the honourable Supreme Court ruled against the ban imposed on the film by 4 Indian states. Not just Sanjay Leela Bhansali the entire film industry, petrified to speak up, breathed a sigh of relief. One of the first filmmakers to react with unbridled joy at the SC’s verdict was R Balki whose PadMan gets directly affected by the release of Padmavati on the same day. Says Balki, “This is a victory democracy, the right to freedom of expression and for the film industry being held at ransom by fringe groups. I can’t even begin to imagine the relief that Viacom 18 and Sanjay Leela Bhansali must be feeling.” It is good to hear a voice from the film industry finally speak up. There has been a strange quietude among Sanjay Bhansali’s colleagues. Perhaps they are too scared to speak up. A prominent actor who is a member of parliament had promised to raise the Padmavat issue in parliament. That actor is now tightlipped, afraid to talk. “It is not fear of the fringe groups that keeps me from raising my voice in parliament. It is the fear of being proven wrong. What if tomorrow, when the film releases and it has something genuinely objectionable in it? Even earlier in Bajirao Mastani, Bhansali had portrayed the Maratha warrior as dancing to an aggressive song. What if something like that pops up in Padmavat?” asks this otherwise-fearless parliamentarian. Wait-and-watch seems to be the policy regarding Padmaavat. In the days before the release of the volatile film on January 25, we can expect several private screenings for various influential elements including perhaps some leaders from the fringe groups. Back at the Bhansalis’ residence, there was cautious optimism about the SC order to ban the ban, so to speak. Minutes after the SC verdict the filmmaker who hasn’t slept much in recent weeks was on the phone in a huddle over release plans. A close family member said. “It’s great to hear the Supreme Court lift the ban. But will the States pay ahead? And more importantly, will the fringe groups listen to the verdict?” Good point, that. Just an hour after the SC’s wonderful verdict theatre owners received renewed warnings. A theatre owner in Bihar says he is not releasing the on January 25. “Even ifNitishji doesn’t ban the film I won’t release the film on 25th. I will see how it goes with the other theatres on January 25 and release the film accordingly on January 26.” Long live democracy. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: For Padmaavat, next challenge is movie hall owners

sanjay-bhansali

Sanjay Bhansali, News on Sanjay Bhansali, stories on Sanjay Bhansali, articles on Sanjay Bhansali, Sanjay Bhansali stories at Wion, Sanjay Bhansali news, Sanjay Bhansali latest news

sanjay bhansali

Opinion: For Padmaavat, next challenge is movie hall owners