The Supreme Court of India on Thursday cleared the release of controversial Bollywood movie Padmavat.
The Rajput caste and the Hindus are outraged that the film shows romance between a Muslim king and a Hindu queen and “hurts the dignity and respect” of the caste.
“Creative freedom, freedom of speech and expression can’t be guillotined... artistic freedom has to be protected,” Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra was quoted as saying by local daily The Hindu.
However, members of the Rajput community have warned that those releasing the controversial film will have to face serious consequences.
“It is the state’s duty and obligation to maintain law and order, and it cannot use its machinery to prohibit a film’s exhibition citing risk to public order," said Misra.
Producers of the film had approached the apex court on Wednesday, challenging the ban on its screening by four states -- Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana -- across the country.
“I request everyone to come forward to block the release of the film. We will not allow to run the movie in cinema halls. Our organization will burn those cinema halls which screen the movie,” Lokendra Singh, head of Rajput Karni Sena, told Anadolu.
Padmavati is a fictional queen in the epic eponymous poem written by 16th-century poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi. The poem eulogizes the valor and sacrifice of Padmavati, the queen of Chittor, who burns herself alive to escape invading Muslim emperor Khalji after he killed her husband in a battle.
Bollywood stars Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh played the roles of Padmavati and Sultan Alauddin Khalji in the film produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
