January 22, 2025

It is very sad that no action is being taken against the assorted ‘groups’ and organizations that take to the streets, and often indulge in arson, vandalism and even murder, to protest against works of art – films, books or paintings – that ostensibly hurt their sentiments. Three things stand out in such protests. One, these protests are often made on rumours, without actually seeing or reading the work of art. Two, they assume that the work of art depicts history, without accounting for artistic licence inherent in the dramatization of events. Three, the groups think they somehow have sole locus standi in the matter, which is not acceptable.

The chief grievance of those protesting against the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film “Padmavati” is that he has distorted history and without watching the film, they have come to the conclusion that he has shown a dream song sequence where Allauddin Khilji romances Queen Padmavati. They feel that it is a slur on the character of the brave queen who committed jauhar instead of submitting to the lecherous designs of Khilji. The director has clarified that there is no such scene and he has glorified the character of Padmavati. But to no avail. In any case, Bhansali has not made a historical documentary. His film is a dramatization of events and such films are a creation of the writer’s and director’s mind.

Assorted groups have said they will chop off Deepika Padukone’s nose. Another group has offered a huge reward for anyone who can ‘behead’ Padukone and Bhansali. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has come out strongly in favour of artistic freedom. It has said that high courts should not normally ban works of art. It has also said that the final authority in this regard is the Central Board of Film Certification and the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal. This is a very positive development. In any case, aggrieved parties have the remedy of approaching the courts if any law is broken once the film gets released.

But the problem is that these groups apply political pressure on the ruling party and it wilts in order to protect imaginary vote banks. The government has to realize that these groups do not have the sanction of the larger part of the community they seek to represent and cannot influence voters on the basis of a ban on one film or one book. They just want to become heroes. Once the government starts treating these protests with an iron hand, there will be a dramatic decrease in such incidents. Padmavati must be taken up as a test case. The government must ensure its release on the decided date. That will send a signal to the current protestors and others like them waiting in the wings to hold the society at ransom that such unruly and uncivilized behavior will not be tolerated any longer.

PS: Readers will notice that I have consciously avoided naming the groups leading the protest as I do not want to give them undue publicity. They are miscreants and such people have no tags. All of them are same.