Gorakhpur/New Delhi/Jaipur: The censor board has a job which it should be allowed to do, the Centre said on Tuesday even as the row over Padmavati raged on with Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath claiming Sanjay Leela Bhansali was no less guilty than the fringe groups extending threats.
Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh, who plays Alauddin Khilji in the flick, also spoke out saying he was 200 per cent with the film.
In Gorakhpur, UP Chief Minister Adityanath said that filmmaker Bhansali was no less guilty than those giving threats to the movie’s crew. He alleged that Bhansali was “habitual of playing with public sentiments”.
There have been several threats by various fringe groups against Bhansali, actress Deepika Padukone over the alleged “distortion” of history in the period drama.
“If there is any action, it will be against both the sides”, the priest-turned-politician said, as he attacked Bhansali.
No one has the right to take the law into own hands whether it is Sanjay Leela Bhansali or anyone else, Adityanath said.
“I feel that if those issuing threats are guilty, Bhansali is no less guilty,” he told reporters.
Adityanath's Rajasthan counterpart Vasundhara Raje, meanwhile, again said that the film would not be allowed to screened in her state, unless the “necessary” changes as suggested to the Centre were made.
Union Information and broadcasting minister Rajyavardhan Rathore, however, suggested that the censor board should be allowed to do its job.
“The CBFC has been formed for a purpose. Let it do its job,” the minister said responding to a volley of questions by reporters.
Meanwhile, actor Ranveer Singh said that he had been asked not to say anything about the movie but was “200 per cent” behind director Bhansali.
“I stand 200 per cent with the film and Mr Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Given the sensitive times right now, I have been asked to not say anything, whatever in regards to the film. Anything that needs to be (said) you will receive from the producers,” he said.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who had on Monday said that “cinematic license” did not mean the right to twist historical facts, on Tuesday clarified that he he neither supported a ban on the movie nor backed those issuing threats.
Mr Singh said he was totally opposed to the threats being issued by certain hardline elements to the actors and the director of the film but added that anyone feeling hurt by the alleged distortion of historical facts had the right to peaceful agitation.
A distinction needs to be drawn between threats and protests, he said.
