CHITTORGARH: The flags are up, the message is on the wall as effigies dangle from pieces of string hung up on the Padal Pole. An assembly of people and police has replaced the usual hustle and bustle of tourists here. It's war time again at the historic Chhittorgarh fort. And this one with a resolve to be won at all costs. Today, the road that otherwise sees hundreds of vehicles laden with tourists go up the fort's gradient everyday will stand blocked as protesters get ready to close the fort's gates over the controversial Sanjay Leela Bhansali film 'Padmavati'.
'Films should show characters on basis of facts'
CHITTORGARH: Not even those disembarking from the weekly Palace on Wheels for a glimpse of Mewar's pride would be allowed entry—an intentional move to spread the message of Chittor's anger against Bollywood movie 'Padmavati' for allegedly having toyed with history.
Little wonder then that Malcolm White who had come to the fort on Thursday with his daughter Katherine White considered himself lucky for having made it in the nick of time. "Lucky that we are here today (Thursday). But it's a shame that tourists, who are not involved in controversies, are being forcefully banned from entering the fort," he said on learning about the issue. "But films on history should present their characters on the basis of facts. It should not be Hollywoodised or Bollywoodised," he added.
And that is exactly what Gopal Namdev, a member of the Sarv Samaj Protest Committee, wants to convey. "Rani Padmini is like Sita Mata for the people of Mewar. She is highly revered and worshiped in our families but the movie features her in a bad light. We also believe that the movie has a sequence stating Rani Padmini was shown to Khilji through a mirror. This is a fabrication of facts that shows Rajput warriors as weak and incompetent. The movie, as far as our information goes, ends showing Raja Ratan Singh surrendering against the barbarian Alauddin Khilji and projects the real hero in a bad light," says Namdev.
Along with a team of elders, he has been spending hours at the dharna 'sthal' preparing their strategy for the campaign. The Muslim community of Chittorgarh has also extended their support to the protest.
But that is not all. A Delhi University graduate, Bhanu Pratap Singh, who has been actively sharing messages on social media related to the controversy, says, "The movie's trailer gives more weightage to the role of the villain played by Ranveer Singh by showing him as tall, well-built while the hero Rawal Ratan Singh has been showed as comparatively weak-built. Look at other Bollywood blockbusters like 'Bahubali' and Hollywood's 'Troy'. They at least give equal weightage to both the hero and the villain. The film in a nutshell revolves more around Khilji."
The 'Ghoomar' song in the movie also has the protesters seeing red. The committee has termed the song, which shows Padmini dancing before the public in a courtyard, as "crossing the dramatic license".
"A Rajput queen wearing inappropriate clothes and dancing before the public is not something which happens even today. How can the movie show Rani Padmini in such a disgraceful act," asks Rajeshwari Sharma, a folk dancer who specializes in 'ghoomar'.
A group of folk dancers have also joined the bandwagon and decided to protest against the film. Sharma says that every time before the start of her dance performance, she recalls Rani Padmini to give her confidence.
The anger seen near the fort has also spilled onto the streets with periodic drum beats and slogan shouting by youths in open jeeps and bikes as they criss-cross the city. Posters have also been put up on all vehicles going to the fort seeking a ban on the release of 'Padmavati'.
The Archelogical Survey of India (ASI) office in Chittorgarh is tight-lipped about the controversy. Officials at the ASI office in the fort passed the buck to senior officials in Jaipur for comments. However, the information booklet at the fort and the plaque outside the Padmini Palace still narrates the controversial mirror episode.
