Gujarat becomes fifth state to shut the door on film Padmavati, CM calls it 'foul play with culture'

Agencies
November 22, 2017

Ahmedabad, Nov 22: In more bad news for noted film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the government in Gujarat on Wednesday banned the release of his controversial movie Padmavati across the state.

The announcement in this regard was made by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who said that the film, which ''distorts facts and hurts the sentiments of Rajputs'' will not be allowed to be released.

Govt of Gujarat will not allow Padmavati - a movie hurting sentiments of Rajputs - to get released in the State. We can’t allow our history to be distorted. We believe in freedom of speech and expression but any foul play with our great culture is not tolerated, Rupani tweeted.

With this Gujarat has become the fifth state to ban the release of Padmavati, which has landed in troubled waters over allegations of ''blatant distortion of historical facts and negative portrayal of the Rajput Queen.''

The film, which was slated to be released on December 1, also awaits clearance from the Censor Board.

The Sri Rajput Karni Sena, which is leading the protest against Padmavati, had even called for a Bharat Bandh on December 1 – the day when the film was scheduled to be released.

Besides Rajput Karni Sena, several right-wing outfits, political parties, direct descendants of the Queen Padmavati and several state governments have opposed the film's release.

Earlier today, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh also banned the film's release. However, it said that the life of Rajput Queen Padmavati will be made part of school textbooks across the state.

The MP Chief Minister also referred to Queen Padmavati – the subject of Bhansali's controversial movie – as 'Rashtramata Padmavati'.

'Rashtramata Padmavati to be included in Madhya Pradesh school textbooks, Shivraj Singh Chouhan was quoted as saying by a leading TV news channel.

Chouhan had earlier said that a film, which has "distorted facts" about Rajput queen Padmavati and allegedly shows disrespect to her, will not be released in Madhya Pradesh.

"The insult will not be tolerated," Chouhan said, eliciting a rousing applause from the audience.

While calling Padmavati 'Rashtramata' (mother of the nation) Chouhan said, "The film which distorts facts and disrespects 'Rashtamata' Padmavati will not be allowed to screen in any part of Madhya Pradesh."

He went ahead to say that even if the movie is passed by the censor board for release in the country, it won't make it to the screens in the state.

Interestingly, the MP government has also constituted an award in the name of the erstwhile Rajput  Queen. A 'Rashtramata Padmavati Award' has been instituted by the state government for people doing outstanding work for the protection of women, he had said.

He said a memorial of the queen would be built at a site in the state capital, where a memorial for the country's brave soldiers has been proposed.

Chouhan made this announcement at an event where BJP's Madhya Pradesh chief Nandkumar Singh Chauhan called Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali a 'sinner' and alleged that in the movie 'Padmavati', history had been tampered with for the sake of money.

The Sanjay Leela Bhansali film starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh is based on Rajput queen Padmavati.

Amid rumours that there was a romantic dream sequence between Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji's characters, various Rajput and other groups have been protesting against the film, alleging it "distorts" history and hurts the sentiments of the people.

Historians are, however, divided on whether Rani Padmavati even existed. Rawal said actor Ranveer Singh should not have played the character of Delhi sultan Alauddin Khalji in the movie.

"He (Ranveer Singh) should have thought what role is he playing," he said.

Khalji has been projected as a hero in the movie and today's generation believe in movies, he said. "Do they want them to believe that Khalji was a hero?" the minister asked.

Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh - all BJP ruled states - and Punjab, ruled by the Congress, have already opposed the release of the movie.

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News Network
June 16,2020

Mumbai, Jun 16: The International Space University (ISU) in France has paid homage to Sushant Singh Rajput in a statement, saying the news of the actor's death was "deeply saddening".

Rajput was found dead in his Bandra apartment on Sunday.

According to an official, Mumbai Police found out during the probe that the 34-year-old actor was under medication for depression.

The official Twitter handle of ISU on Monday tweeted how Rajput was supposed to visit the campus last year but was unable to due to scheduling conflict.

"We are deeply saddened by the dramatic news on the death of well known Indian actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Mr Singh Rajput was a believer and strong supporter of STEM education and was following ISU on social media.

"He had even accepted an invitation to visit ISU's Central Campus in the summer of 2019 but other agenda priorities prevented him from travelling to Strasbourg," the statement by the university read.

ISU paid condolences to Rajput's family and friends, saying the actor's memory will "remain among his thousands of followers across India and all over the world".

Rajput had enrolled at Delhi Technical University (DTU) in 2003, which was then known as Delhi College of Engineering, but left the course to pursue his showbiz dreams.

Even after leaving the four-year degree course, he remained fascinated with science and had a deep interest in astronomy.

As part of his research for the film "Chanda Mama Door Ke", he also visited the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2017.

Rajput had stayed in NASA to train for his role as an astronaut for the film, which was eventually shelved.

The actor also owned Meade 14" LX600 telescope.

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News Network
January 9,2020

New Delhi, Jan 9: A Delhi court Thursday directed the makers of the Deepika Padukone starer feature film 'Chhapaak' to give credit to acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal’s lawyer in the movie.

Additional Civil Judge Pankaj Sharma said it was necessary that advocate Aparna Bhat's contribution is acknowledged.

"This Court is of the considered view that facts are indicative that the plea of the plaintiff for interim injunction is well-founded and it is necessary that her contribution be acknowledged by providing on the slide on the actual footage and the images, the line 'Aparna Bhat continues to fight the cases of sexual and physical violence against women' during the screening of the film.

"The said line on screen maybe with a rider that the same is with the court order," the judge said.

Advocate Bhat filed the application saying that despite representing Agarwal in courts for several years and helping in the movie-making, she was not given credit in the movie.

She said the filmmakers took her help in the entire process of writing and shooting the movie, but did not give the credit.

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News Network
April 8,2020

Washington, Apr 8: Choosing stethoscope over the crown, Miss England 2019, Bhasha Mukherjee, has returned to work as a doctor as the world battles with coronavirus pandemic.

According to CNN, she was a junior doctor with a specialisation in respiratory medicine, before being crowned as Miss England in August last year. The beauty queen, who has her roots in India's Kolkata city, had taken a career break from the medical field.

She had paused her medical career for some humanitarian work that she was offered by several charities and was on a tour to different countries including India.

"I was invited to Africa, to Turkey, then to India, Pakistan and several other Asian countries to be an ambassador for various charity work," CNN quoted her as saying.

She had been in India at the beginning of March for four weeks. During her stay as an ambassador of the Coventry Mercia Lions Club, the 24-year-old had visited several schools and had donated stationery and other items to the needy.

Mukherjee then returned back UK as the situation worsened there with the coronavirus spreading at a fast rate. She then contacted the hospital and asked them that she wanted to rejoin.

According to CNN, the Miss England beauty pageant winner said that she felt wrong to be wearing the crown while people around the world were dying from the virus.

"When you are doing all this humanitarian work abroad, you're still expected to put the crown on, get ready... look pretty. I wanted to come back home. I wanted to come and go straight to work," CNN quoted her as saying.

"I felt a sense of this is what I'd got this degree for and what better time to be part of this particular sector than now. It was incredible the way the whole world was celebrating all key workers, and I wanted to be one of those, and I knew I could help," she added.

As the beauty queen has a recent travel history, she is currently in self-isolation and will return to work once her quarantine period is over.
She was crowned as Miss England 2019 in August last year.

According to World Health Organisation, 13,53,361people have been affected by coronavirus and over 80,000 people have lost their lives to it.

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