'Padmavati': People protest against Bhansali's film in Chittorgarh

Chittorgarh (Rajasthan): Tens of hundreds of people took to the streets and blocked roads across Rajasthan's Chittorgarh city on Friday, to protest against the release of highly anticipated epic period drama, 'Padmavati'. In Chittorgarh, all schools, markets and medical shops were shut down as a part of the strike, backed by the Rajput Karni Sena. The protest march started from Maharana Pratap Chowk and ended at the Circuit House. The protest was peaceful, but the people alleged that Sanjay Leela Bhansali's directorial venture shows much-celebrated Rajput queen, Padmini, in a poor light. The historical drama, is based on the story of Queen Padmini, who famously refused to submit to emperor Alauddin Khilji when he arrived at the Chittorgarh fort with his army and killed herself, along with scores of other women before he could storm the fort. The protesters allege that the film has love scenes between Queen Padmini and Alauddin Khilji, played by actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh. Earlier on Thursday, Pramod Rana, the national convenor of Rajput Karni Sena, said that they wouldn't let the movie release with wrong facts. Talking exclusively to ANI, Rana said, "We cannot give permission to tamper with the rich history of India. The only thing that we want is that Sanjay Leela Bhansali should show the movie to some of the foremost people of our organisation and tell them that we are not tempering any fact of the history." He also said that if the movie still gets released with historically incorrect facts, then Bhansali would have to feel the heat again. The movie, which stars Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as Rawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji, is all set to hit the theatres on December 1.