In a tragic turn of events, Sanjay Leela Bhansali was assaulted and attacked by members of the group Karni Sen on the Jaipur sets of his upcoming periodic drama ‘Padmavati’. The group not only attacked the director but vandalized the sets alleging that the movie was portraying the queen in a bad light by distorting historical facts.
Since then, the news has gone viral and the industry has come out in full support of the director and his vision for the film. Today, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s team released an heartfelt official statement.
Take a look –
Sanjay Leela Bhansali has shot two films in Jaipur and despite his love for Rajasthan, for the safety of his crew, we have decided to stop the shoot and leave the city post the shocking incident where miscreants damaged property and misbehaved with the crew on the shoot of ‘Padmavati’. SLB had directed the opera ‘Padmavati’ to packed houses in Paris and earned worldwide praise for it. He was inspired by the beautiful and courageous queen and is making a feature film on the story. We clarify that there is no dream sequence or any objectionable scene between Rani Padmavati and Allauddin Khilji. We have been carefully researching and making the film. In spite of this, the attack on the shoot and crew was uncalled for and was extremely damaging to the image of the beautiful city of Jaipur. We are grateful to the authorities at Jaipur who responded promptly and limited the damage on shoot. We are confident that Mewar will be proud of the film made on their revered queen. We do not want to hurt any sentiments and would appreciate if the local people support us in making this film and making their queen revered by the world.
Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, who play the leads in the movie, took to Twitter to express their thoughts about the incident
In a state of shock!deeply saddened and disheartened by yesterday’s events!#Padmavati
— Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) January 28, 2017
As Padmavati I can assure you that there is absolutely no distortion of history.#Padmavati
— Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) January 28, 2017
Our only endeavour is & has always been to share with the world the story of this courageous & powerful woman in the purest form there is.🙏
— Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) January 28, 2017
Very very sad. Words do fall short and feel too little to express feelings. Violence is unacceptable. This incident has shocked me.
— Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) January 28, 2017
We need to look deep within as a society, as a country, as a people. Where are we headed.
— Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) January 28, 2017
Sanjay bhansali is a film maker who the country should be proud of. You will know when u see #padmavati the dignity he brings to it.
— Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) January 28, 2017
And my only regret is that I wasn’t by his side when this happened.
— Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) January 28, 2017
As a team, we are making ‘Padmavati’ keeping in mind the sensitivities and emotions of the people of Rajasthan and the Rajput community.
— Ranveer Singh (@RanveerOfficial) January 28, 2017
Sanjay Sir is one of the most accomplished & authentic filmmakers we have in India, & he wont ever do anything to hurt anyones feelings.
— Ranveer Singh (@RanveerOfficial) January 28, 2017
Whats happened is very unfortunate. We hope the people of Rajasthan will understand & empathise with our intentions & give us their support.
— Ranveer Singh (@RanveerOfficial) January 28, 2017
