Mumbai: Amid the bounties being announced on Deepika Padukone’s head over her role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati, legendary actor Kamal Haasan has spoken in support of the Bollywood actress.
Referring to the rewards being announced by fringe groups for beheading Deepika Padukone, the actor said, “I want Ms Deepika’s head…saved”.
He urged people to not deny the freedom to the Padmavati actress, and respect her “more than her body”.
The remarks of Haasan, who has been preparing for a political debut, was in response to Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief media coordinator who announced Rs 10 crore award for anyone who beheads Padmavati director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Deepika Padukone.
The actor tweeted, “I want Ms. Deepika’s head.. saved. Respect it more than her body. Even more her freedom. Do not deny her that. Many communities have opposed my films. Extremism in any debate is deplorable. Wake up cerebral India. Time to think. We’ve said enough. Listen Ma Bharat”.
There have been several instances in the recent past of fringe groups and individuals offering rewards for killing Deepika Padukone, who is playing the 13th century Queen in Bhansali’s latest movie.
On Monday, Akhil Bhartiya Kshatriya Mahasabha (ABKM) youth wing leader Bhuvneshwar Singh announced an award of Rs 1 crore for anyone burning Deepika Padukone alive.
He said, “Deepika should know how it feels like to be burnt alive. The actress will never know the sacrifice of the queen. Any person burning her alive will be given Rs 1 crore. We demand that office- bearers of the organisation be shown the movie before it is released.”
Earlier, a Meerut resident from the Kshatriya community had announced a bounty of Rs 5 crore on the heads of film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and actor Deepika Padukone for “wrongfully portraying” queen Padmini in their coming film ‘Padmavati’.
On November 17, protesters in Uttar Pradesh announced a bounty of Rs 50 lakhs on the heads of the two Bollywood fraternities.
The period drama has been mired in controversy over conjectures that it “distorts history” regarding Rajput queen Padmavati, a contention that Bhansali has repeatedly denied.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has also said that the film will not be allowed to be released in the state unless its “controversial portions” were removed. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje also said that she would allow Padmavati’s release in the state if the controversial parts were removed.
The widespread protests, including threats, over the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film seemed to have led to the launch of the film getting deferred.
“Viacom18 Motion Pictures, the studio behind ‘Padmavati’, has voluntarily deferred the release date of the film from December 1, 2017,” the company spokesperson said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) declared that it won’t expedite the certification process of the film despite the protests. Censor board chief Prasoon Joshi also expressed disappointment over the film being screened for some journalists, who said there was nothing in it to hurt anyone’s sentiments.
Bureau Report
Leave a Reply