Padmavati: 25 detained for stir outside SLB's office; protests in Noida, Jamshedpur

Mumbai: Around 25 people of a Rajput community outfit on Saturday protested outside filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's office in suburban Juhu against his upcoming movie 'Padmavati', the police said.

The protesters demanded that the film should not be released, a senior police official said.

'Padmavati,' helmed by Bhansali, is slated to hit theatres shortly. The movie has been facing a lot of trouble since early this year.

Police said that they detained the protesters, but later released them.

The film, starring Deepika Padukone as Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji, is based on the legend of Rani Padmavati, a Hindu Rajput queen.

Bhansali had been assaulted by activists of a Rajput community group, the Karni Sena, during the shooting of the film in Jaipur in January. The outfit has been constantly seeking a ban on the movie, claiming it "distorts" history.

Meanwhile in Noida, several outfits protested against the film and appealed to people not to watch the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed movie.

Two of the protesting organisations -- the Rajputana Vikas Sanghthan and the Veer Kunwar Singh Shodh Sanghthan -- also submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate, demanding a ban on the movie.

The Rajputana Vikas Sanghthan protested and tore posters of the film in front of a Sector 38 mall and a Sector 18 cinema hall, while at the Sector 25, its members raised slogans against the movie.

The outfit's president S P Chauhan said that his community will not tolerate any "misleading" views on Rani Padmavati.

The Veer Kunwar Singh Shodh Sangthan burnt the effigy of Bhansali and demanded the film be banned.

Its president Thakur Man Singh said that Maharani Padmavati was respected by Hindus and alleged that the film had distorted facts.

The Hindu Jan Jagriti Manch and the Akhil Bhartiya Kshatriya Maha Sangh also protested against the movie.

Moreover, an organisation of the Rajput community here  demanded a ban on the upcoming Bollywood movie and said it would not allow its release in any of the theatres in and around Jamshedpur.

"We will not allow release of the movie in any of the theatres in and around Jamshedpur," said Samresh Singh, president of the youth wing of the Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha (ABKM).

He said the organisation would also urge the state government to ban the movie scheduled to be released on December 1.

"The glorious history of the country has been distorted in the movie which will not be tolerated," Singh said after a meeting of the organisation.

Asking theatre owners not to screen the film, he said the ABKM might also move court to stop its release.