By Sushil Kutty
For television news channels to brand the entire Rajput community ‘fringe’ is nothing short of despicable. Tags such as ‘Fringe Singed’ and ‘Apex Court Slaps Fringe’ after the Supreme Court lifted the ban on Padmavaat on Thursday in BJP-ruled states only provoke the agitating Rajputs further. And at the India Today Conclave in Hyderabad the same day, actor Prakash Raj used the ‘fringe’ tag to hit out at those opposed to Padmavaat, produced by a MukeshAmbani-owned company.
All bar none, television news channels have been taking sides in this battle between Padmavaat and the Rajput, and they have been taking sides with only one side – Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s.
The fact of the matter is: Padmavati now known as Padmavaat enraged not just “fringe elements” but Rajputs from all walks of life from across Rajasthan and other the states, who take objection to how the filmmaker depicts Rani Padmini, revered by the Rajputs.
In response to the SC order, Rajput women have threatened to commit ‘Jauhar’ on January 25, on the eve of Republic Day when heads of all ASEAN states will be India’s guests of honour at the Republic Day Parade.
Couching their campaign in the guise of protecting the right to ‘Freedom of Expression’, India’s ear-splitting television news channels have been more than willing spokespersons of Bhansali and Padmavaat because the film has been produced by Viacom 18, a company owned by MukeshAmbani’s ‘Reliance’, which has stakes in several media outlets.
But the SC went strictly by the Constitution. With its order to state governments to ensure that Padmavaat is screened, the SC has upheld the right of filmmakers to produce and screen movies even if it might look like the top court has chosen to risk violence to keep freedom of expression intact. The “onus” is on the state governments to maintain peace.
CJI Dipak Misra told the states that “freedom of expression cannot be guillotined” when even “Bandit Queen failed the court test”, adding that “creative freedom cannot be curtailed.”
Within minutes of the SC spanner in the works of the state governments, the television news channels were back to Rajput- bashing, mocking them and in effect provoking them with questions like, “Now, what are you going to do?” It was childish.
And it was not hard to determine why, apart from who owns the channel, that is. Bollywood is a source of big money for television news channels, and a content provider to keep bored housewives glued to television sets after lunch. So headlines such as ‘Fringe Vs. Filmmaker’ and hashtags such as #KarniSenaGoons have been the staple ever since the movie’s trailer hit television screens.
On a lighter note, the film censor board should not only have deleted the ‘i’ from Padmavati, it should also have asked Bhansali to knock off the ‘i’ at the end of his surname – Padmavaat directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansal! That would have probably given a face-saver to the martial Rajput, given the Karni Sena a pyrrhic victory to gloat over and get on with life. But that opportunity has been lost.
The censor board gave the impression of carrying out an eyewash, knocking off an ‘i’ from the film’s title, neutering it genderless, besides a few cuts here and there, that did not cut ice with the Rajputs.
On January 18, after the SC verdict, the threat of violence remained though the rhetoric shifted from loping off heads and slashing off the nose of lead actor Deepika Padukone, who is playing Rani Padmini in the movie, “to protest, which is our right”.
Padmavaat releases on January 25, on the eve of Republic Day, along with Akshay Kumar’s Padman. The whisper from the Padman camp was that it did not matter because both films told a different story – one a ‘period drama’ of a long dead Rani Padmini and the other highlighting the predicament of the modern day Padmini.
Before the SC order, Bhansali’s predicament was the political story behind the Rajput saga. Political parties were loath to get on the wrong side of Rajputs purely on account of votes. The Rajput with his reputation for chivalry was quite capable of avenging a wrong, real or perceived. The Congress-ruled Punjab too had voiced a move to ban the movie despite the all-clear from the censor board.
Come January 25, denizens of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat will likely wake up to violent protests and in such an atmosphere even Padman will find it difficult to stop Bollywood from bleeding. And with a power-packed Republic Day the next day with heads of state of all ASEAN countries gracing the RD Parade as guests of India, it will be India’s image that will take a beating if the violence spills over into Republic Day. (IPA Service)
The post Media Provokes Rajputs As Ambani’s Padmaavat Clears The Bar appeared first on Newspack by India Press Agency.
