Gujarat deputy CM Nitin Patel wants people to boycott Padmaavat

GANDHINAGAR/AHMEDABAD/RAJKOT: The Supreme Court may have allowed the release of Padmaavat on January 25 but Gujarat deputy chief minister, Nitin Patel, appealed to the people to boycott the film and maintain peace in the state. On Thursday, the apex court had also quashed the review petitions filed by Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan governments against release of Padmaavat’s release in their respective states.
“Gujarat government had banned Padmaavat’s release respecting the feelings of the Rajput community,” he said.
“As the Supreme Court has allowed its release, this there is tension in the state. The state government is trying its best to maintain law and order. Several theatres have also voluntarily decided not to screen the movie. We appeal to people to voluntarily boycott the film,” Nitin Patel said.
Meanwhile, national president of Karni Sena, Lokendra Kalvi, was in Gujarat over the ongoing protests against the release of Padmaavat. Speaking to journalists in Rajkot, Kalvi warned movie buffs and said that if they are keen to watch the movie, they should watch it on the internet 10 days after of its release. “We won’t allow you to watch it in cinema halls. I request people to cooperate with the ‘janata curfew’ on release of Padmaavat on January 25,” Kavi said.
It may be recalled that around 8 multiplexes in Ahmedabad, one each in Mehsana and Viramgam and a few in Surat had declared on Monday that they will not release the film. Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has already said that there is no romantic scene between Allauddin Khilji and Padmaavat even in a dream sequence in movie. But Kavi maintains that there was such a scene which has not been deleted.



He also claimed that he never accepted Bhansali’s invitation to watch the film ahead of its release. Such information was spread to mislead people, Kavi said. Karni Sena has made representations to chief ministers of 17 states, as well as the Prime Minister and BJP national president Amit Shah, not to release the film.