Karni Sena withdraws anti-Padmaavat protest, admits film glorifies Rajput valor
What's the story
Taking a massive U-turn, Karni Sena, the Rajput fringe group that wanted a ban on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat, has finally decided to withdraw its year-long protest. A few Sena members watched the film in Mumbai on Friday and realized that it does glorify Rajput valor, as the period drama's makers and media outlets had been claiming all along. Here's more.
The realisation
No objectionable scene between Alauddin Khilji, Queen Padmini: Karni Sena
Yogendra Singh Katar, Sena's Mumbai leader, said that upon watching Padmaavat on the instructions of their national President Sukhdev Singh Gogamadi, they found no objectionable scene between Khilji and Queen Padmini. In fact, the film glorified the Rajput sacrifice and would make every Rajput feel proud, he said. It's interesting that it took him 10 days to realize this. Padmaavat released on January 25.
Violence
Padmaavat has been at the heart of raging controversies
The threats against Padmaavat have been violent and many. Reports first surfaced in January 2017, when Sena members vandalized the film's set and assaulted Bhansali while he was shooting in Jaipur. Protesting leaders also announced bounties on Bhansali's head and Deepika Paukone's nose. Effigies were burnt, school buses attacked, properties torched, CMs took sides without watching the film, and the Chittorgarh fort shut twice.
Questions
Karni Sena stirred up a storm only to back out
Karni Sena has not just withdrawn its protest, it will now also help in releasing the film across the country, including in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, states that didn't screen Padmaavat despite the Supreme Court's go ahead for an all-India release. Sena's flipping sides overnight leaves several questions unanswered. Who gained the most from it all? Who lost? We can only speculate.