Sir— This refers about the ongoing controversy over Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie Padmawati. Rani Padmini, on whom Padmavati is based, was an exceptionally beautiful princess of the Sinhala kingdom of Lanka whowas married to Ratan Sen, the Rajput ruler of Chittor. When Alauddin Khilji, the Sultan of Delhi, laid siege to Chittor, Rani Padmini along with 1,600 other women performed jauhar (self-immolation) to protect their honour before the fort fell. This we have learnt since our childhood. Rani Padmini revered as a goddess in Rajasthan and the Rajput community across the country has immense respect and reverence for her.
Bhansali is a filmmaker with a pecuniary interest in the success of his film and he obviously did not set out to make a documentary on Rani Padmini but a commercial film with all the ingredients of a formula film. That is the reason behind protest by the Rajput community. Why a filmmaker should choose a historical or religious character to make a film on, when he knows the sentiments of a society are deeply attached to it, is anybody’s guess.