Page 31 - ARUBA TODAY

A31
PEOPLE & ARTS Tuesday 21 November 2017
India ruling party member offers bounty for director, star

By MUNEEZA NAQVI “Padmavati” is based on cally attacking Bhansali in
Associated Press a 16th century Sufi epic January. Most of the an-
NEW DELHI (AP) — A mem- poem, “Padmavat,” a fic- ger at the film appears to
ber of India’s Hindu nation- tional account of a brave stem from allegations that
alist ruling party has offered and beautiful Rajput queen Bhansali has distorted his-
a 100 million rupee ($1.5 mil- who chose to kill herself tory by filming a romantic
lion) reward to anyone who rather than be captured by dream sequence between
beheads the lead actress the Muslim sultan of Delhi, the main protagonists of
and the director of the yet- Allaudin Khilji. Over centu- the film. Bhansali has de-
to-be released Bollywood ries of its retelling, the epic nied the allegations. Earlier
film “Padmavati” over its has come to be seen as his- this month, the head of the
alleged handling of the re- tory, even though there is Rajput Karni Sena in Rajast-
lationship between a Hindu little historical evidence. han said Padukone should
queen and a Muslim ruler. Padukone plays the role have her nose cut — a sym-
Suraj Pal Amu, a Bharatiya of Padmini, the legend- bol of public humiliation
Janata Party leader from ary queen who commit- — for being part of a film In this June 25, 2016 file photo, Bollywood actress Deepika
the northern state of Hary- ted “jauhar,” the medieval that allegedly insulted the Padukone poses for photographers at the International Indian
ana, offered the bounty Rajput practice in which famed queen. India’s 1.3 Film Academy Rocks Green Carpet for the 17th Edition of IIFA
against actress Deepika women of royal households billion-strong democracy Weekend & Awards in Madrid, Spain.
Padukone and filmmaker walked into funeral fires to is the largest in the world, Associated Press
Sanjay Leela Bhansali on embrace death over the but despite significant eco- deemed offensive to Indi- from shelves and destroyed
Sunday. The film’s produc- dishonor of being taken nomic progress over the last an culture in general. all copies of American his-
ers postponed the release captive. few decades its politics are In the past, India’s film cen- torian Wendy Doniger’s
of the film, which was set to “Padmavati” has been in held hostage by a complex sor board rejected the “The Hindus: An Alternative
be in theaters Dec. 1, the trouble since the begin- mix of religion and caste. erotic drama “Fifty Shades History” after protests and a
same day. Speaking at a ning of the year, with fringe Books and movies have of Grey,” and Hollywood lawsuit from a Hindu right-
public rally that was report- groups in the western state found themselves at the re- movies that appear on In- wing group. The group’s
ed by several local news of Rajasthan attacking the ceiving end of threats of vi- dian screens are routinely main objection was that
outlets, Amu also added film’s set, threatening to olence and bans because scrubbed of sex scenes. the book described Hin-
that the film would not be burn down theaters that they either offend one reli- In 2014, the publishing du mythological texts as
allowed to release at all. show it and even physi- gious or caste group, or are house Penguin India pulled fictional.q