Padmavati fire:Complaint registered by crew member

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period film 'Padmavati' has run into controversy again. The film’s set, erected at the Masai Pathar located around 35 kms from

Kolhapur

, was torched by a group of 25-30 unidentified people during the early hours of Wednesday.

Though the exact amount of loss is yet to be ascertained, sources suggest that a lot of equipment, costumes and props were damaged and portions of the set were burnt to ashes.

Informing us about the investigation, MB Tambade, Superintendent of Police, Kolhapur, said, “Though the group of people or the motive behind this act is yet to be ascertained, we are doing our best to get to the depth of the matter. The incident took place sometime around 1 am and after we received information, I personally visited the place and interacted with Bhansali. However, he was reluctant to lodge a complaint, making the further course of action difficult.”

Procession scene was to be shot
The Padmavati team was supposed to shoot an elaborate procession scene on Wednesday and an additional 600 people had been called for the same, along with heavy drapery, props and horses as well. A driver from the film’s crew first spotted the attackers and tried to stop them. But, sources inform that the attackers beat up the driver, who suffered severe injuries and has been taken to the hospital.

Police Inspector Dhanyakumar Godse, from the Panhala police station, informed, “The area falls under our jurisdiction and we are investigating the case. The miscreants set

fire

to the costumes and also damaged a few vehicles belonging to the crew. The Masai Pathar is a 5,000 acre plateau and the number of people residing here is sparse. So, getting information from locals is out of the question. This has made the investigation difficult.”

After the incident, Vishwas Nangre-Patil, Inspector General of Kolhapur, has promised to give complete security to the crew. He also informed that the dog squad has helped in finding evidence, including bottles used for making petrol bombs.

Complaint lodged
A complaint has been lodged by one of the crew members Chetan Bhalchandra Deolekar under IPC section 323, 324, 336, 147, 148, 149, 120B and The Explosive Substances Act, 1908 section 4, 5, 6. In the complaint, Deolekar mentioned, “Last night, around 1.30am, when the entire crew was in the hotel, one of our workers Vikram Yadav informed me about this incident. When we reached on the sets, 70-80 per cent of the stuff — including expensive costumes inside the tents was burnt. We have incurred loss of around ₹4-5 crore.”

The shoot has been stalled for now but sources suggest that Bhansali will resume the schedule after a week. Bhansali didn’t reply to our text message, till the time of going to press.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In January, the shoot of the film was disrupted in Jaipur when members of the Karni Sena barged onto the set and manhandled Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Post that incident, Bhansali had cancelled the shooting schedule in Rajasthan and opted for Kolhapur instead.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------After the Kolhapur incident, Lokendra Singh Kalvi, Karni Sena founder, told us, “I will speak to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and would request him to advice Bhansali to not shoot the film. Otherwise, such incidents would keep on happening.”