Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Padmavati has gained much news place, thanks to the series of attacks and vandalism on the movies sets, first in Jaipur and then in Kolhapur. But a recent sting operation shows that the attacks were actually staged and part of movie’s publicity!!
Surprised??? We too are.
The Karni Sena was protesting against what they believed to be the distortion of facts and history. They were particularly angered by reports of the depiction of a dream sequence involving a lovemaking sequence between the queen and tyrant Alauddin Khilji. However, it looks like there’s more to this story as the Sena’s plans have been exposed by a leading news channel.
A reporter from the channel met Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, the president of the Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena, at his Jaipur home in June under the premise of being a producer who wanted to make a film on a fictitious love story between Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and a Rajput general’s wife. Sukhdev hardly seemed offended by this concept and told the reporter, “You can talk to Umed Singh. He will speak to me on the phone from there. He’s our organisational convener. You talk to him or ask him to speak to me. Just note down his number.”
Later at a meeting with Umed Singh, Sukhdev’s right hand man promised to stage attacks on the sets of the producer’s film for publicity. Umed said, “Some people from outside will barge in. They’ll create some trouble. The sets will not be burned down. Two to four people will be beaten up. Vandalism will be recorded.” When the journalist asked him if the incident would be posted on WhatsApp for publicity, Umed stated, “That will be done throughout India and across the world.”
When talking about protection for the film’s sets, Umed stated, “If you want 50 people for a month to protect (the sets), they (filmmakers) will then have to pay Rs 1.5 crore.” He continued, “Fifty people will remain there for you all the time.” Talking about ‘Padmavati’, he said, “Padmavati’s release doesn’t stop. But vandalism cannot be ruled out.” He added, “It’s safe in Mumbai. But it was burned down in Kolhapur.”
