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Hindu activists threaten to torch UK cinemas in Bollywood film row
The film, Padmavati, depicts the life of Padmini, a Hindu queen who immolates herself rather than fall prisoner to a conquering Muslim ruler. After baseless but persistent rumours that the film depicted Padmini in intimate love scenes with the Muslim king, there were protests, attacks on the set and director, and threats to mutilate the lead actor.
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Padmavati is based on a 1540 poem by the Sufi writer Malik Muhammad Jaysi. In the UK, the charity is upset because it believes the film has been falsely presented as historically accurate. Specifically, they believe, it wrongly places Padmini as the “motive behind the Chittor siege in 1303”. They say the siege was part of an imperial push by the Muslim forces and a contemporaneous account does not mention Padmavati, who was added in later tellings.
“Padmavati is a revered figure in India and she represents the national pride like Marianne in France and King Arthur in GB,” Rajput Samaj of UK wrote to the BBFC. “Efforts of [the] directors to glorify Alauddin Khilji are similar to glorifying Isis terrorists for killing and enslaving Yazidi girls in this modern world. We must stand up against the glamorisation of plundering, looting, and other barbaric acts.”
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The BBC reported on Friday that a body had been found hanging outside a fort in Rajasthan, along with a warning note mentioning the film that read: “We don’t burn effigies, we hang.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/25/hindu-activists-threaten-to-torch-uk-cinemas-bollywood-padmavati
...
Padmavati is based on a 1540 poem by the Sufi writer Malik Muhammad Jaysi. In the UK, the charity is upset because it believes the film has been falsely presented as historically accurate. Specifically, they believe, it wrongly places Padmini as the “motive behind the Chittor siege in 1303”. They say the siege was part of an imperial push by the Muslim forces and a contemporaneous account does not mention Padmavati, who was added in later tellings.
“Padmavati is a revered figure in India and she represents the national pride like Marianne in France and King Arthur in GB,” Rajput Samaj of UK wrote to the BBFC. “Efforts of [the] directors to glorify Alauddin Khilji are similar to glorifying Isis terrorists for killing and enslaving Yazidi girls in this modern world. We must stand up against the glamorisation of plundering, looting, and other barbaric acts.”
...
The BBC reported on Friday that a body had been found hanging outside a fort in Rajasthan, along with a warning note mentioning the film that read: “We don’t burn effigies, we hang.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/25/hindu-activists-threaten-to-torch-uk-cinemas-bollywood-padmavati
What a poisonous mix of nationalism and religious sectarianism. Padmini is legendary - that's why accounts from the time don't mention her. But they are saying that telling a story about this probably non-existent queen should be grounds for effectively banning the film in UK cinemas, as if there's one authorised myth that the whole world must stick to. People spread lies about what is in the film to demonise it. And the violence has started in India, even if the threats to spread it to the UK don't look like they'd succeed.
