Months after the Jaipur incident, the sets of Padmavati were once again attacked in Kohlapur, Maharashtra.
KOLHAPUR, March 15: There seems to be no respite for filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. His upcoming film Padmavati has been under the scanner ever since the director announced the ambitious project. And after the Jaipur attack, Bhansali shifted base to Kolhapur in Maharashtra to resume the shooting of the film. But if reports are to be believed, the sets were once again attacked on Tuesday night, this time in Kolhapur.
According to reports, 40-50 unidentified men tried to vandalise the sets and set it on fire. The men, armed with lathis and stones, stormed into the sets and started destroying the property. Reportedly, a few cars parked outside the sets were also damaged.
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A report was filed with the police on Wednesday morning, and a few have been arrested in the case.
It was only a few weeks ago that Bhansali decided to shift base to the Masai plateau, some 20km away from Kolhapur. Interestingly, the filmmaker beefed up the security after the Jaipur incident where he was manhandled by members of the Karni Sena and accused of distortion of history in Padmavati.
The reason for the attack was that Bhansali was allegedly showing a romantic sequence between 14th century emperor Alauddin Khilji (played by Ranveer Singh) and Rani Padmini (played by Deepika Padukone), an incident which the Karni Sena claims had never happened in history and thus, filming the same would be an insult to the Rajputana pride.
Interestingly, the filmmakers had never planned to have such a scene in the first place. Moreover, Rani Padmini is a character that was first written of in an epic poem named Padmavat by 16th century Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi. Padmini's existence is a matter of debate among historians.
Meanwhile, it is reported Bhansali is safe, but the shooting of the film has been stalled till further notice. Apart from Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, Padmavati also starsShahid Kapoor in a lead role.
