Removing an offensive dotted Eye, by Alex Deleon, Pune, Maharashtra

                   

ndia: The Padmavati controversy updates.

     Removing an offensive dotted Eye

      Alex Deleon, Pune, Maharashtra

   The big film news at the year end here in India is the ongoing controversy over the release of the new historical drama "Padmavati" by top senior director Sanjay Leela  Bhansali  starring top star Deepika Padukone in the title title role as a real queen of yore.

The big joke (seriously) is that the film will get government release approval only if it meets certain conditions including the dropping of the "i" at the end which, presumably, would allow the picture to be perceived as fiction, not history.  (heh-heh)

"Padmavati" Now "Padmavat", Cleared With 5 Changes Including A Song

The film, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, was reviewed by a special panel constituted by the CBFC which included historians after the makers of the film stated that it was partially based on historical facts.

New Delhi: Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film 'Padmavati', which has been at the centre of a huge controversy, will get the long-awaited certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) popularly called the censor board. The board has suggested five modifications to the film including a change in the title to 'Padmavat' - and will issue the certificate once the modifications are made.

'Padmavati', the 190-crore (approx. 29 million) film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, has drawn angry protests in Rajasthan where fringe groups like the Karni Sena say the movie "distorts history". Though they have not seen the movie, leaders of the Karni Sena and several politicians say the 13th-century queen, Padmini, has been disrespected by Mr Bhansali suggesting in his movie that she was romantically involved with Muslim invader Alauddin Khilji. 

                                Five Modifications 

There are no cuts suggested in this film... only five modifications," censor board chairman Prasoon Joshi told NDTV, contradicting initial reports that the board had recommended 26 cuts. 

The censor board said on Saturday it has begun the process for granting a U/A certificate to the film. This will be done once the filmmaker changes the title to "Padmavat" that makes it clear that it is based on the fiction poem of the same name. The disclaimers are to clarify that there is no claim to historical accuracy and the song picturised on Deepika Padukone, who plays the lead character, is to be altered in keeping with the depiction of the character of Padmavati. An additional disclaimer will state that the practice of Sati is not being glorified, perhaps due to a view that the distinction between Jauhar and Sati may not be easily apparent.

Sati is the traditional Indian ritual accirding to which a wife would throw herself upon the funeral pyre of her deceased husband to join him in death. The practice of Sati (was banned in 1829 under

Eastbyindia Co. rule and made illegal in all jurisdictions of British India.

Alex, 

Pune, Dec. 2017

La belle Deepika in abstill from the film