[The film, “Padmaavat,” is a lavish Bollywood epic about a Hindu queen, Padmavati, who was so beautiful, legend has it, that a Muslim ruler besieges her entire kingdom to have her. Instead of submitting, Padmavati commits suicide, etching herself into Hindu legend for centuries as a symbol of honor, self-sacrifice and Hindu spirit.]
By
Jeffrey Gettleman, Suhasini Raj and Hari Kumar
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Indians protested the
release of the Bollywood epic “Padmaavat,” about a legendary
Hindu queen who commits
suicide rather than submit to a Muslim ruler.
Credit Amit Dave/Reuters
|
NEW
DELHI — Police forces across
India have reinforced security for the Thursday opening of a contentious film
that has prompted hundreds of women to threaten mass suicide and other people
to threaten murder.
The film, “Padmaavat,” is a lavish Bollywood
epic about a Hindu queen, Padmavati, who was so beautiful, legend has it, that
a Muslim ruler besieges her entire kingdom to have her. Instead of submitting,
Padmavati commits suicide, etching herself into Hindu legend for centuries as a symbol of honor, self-sacrifice and Hindu
spirit.
Extremist Hindu groups have whipped up crowds
against the film, claiming that it distorts history and disrespects their
legendary queen.
They have all kinds of complaints:
Padmavati’s clothes are too skimpy; a dream sequence between her and the Muslim
invader is inappropriate; the story has been twisted and Padmavati’s heroism
has been cheapened.
One group of 300 women has petitioned the Indian
government for the right to kill themselves over the film.
Protests are already erupting in many places
and rowdy mobs have vandalized movie theaters, tollbooths, road dividers, buses
and cars.
An Indian television station reported
Wednesday night that a mob had attacked a school bus, pelting it with stones as
children and teachers took cover in the aisle.
Indian intellectuals watching the hysteria
have been perplexed by two issues.
First, few people have actually seen the
film. The most strident protesters admit that they have not watched “Padmaavat”
and that their objections rely on hearsay. The source of the rumors is unclear.
The filmmakers have been careful about leaks of advance copies.
Second, Queen Padmavati might never have
existed. Although Alauddin Khilji, the leader of the Muslim invasion depicted
in the film, and the Hindu king at the time, Ratnasimha, known as Ratan Sen in
the film, were historical figures of the 14th century, several scholars said
they could find no mentions of Queen Padmavati in sources from that era.
“We are living in strange times,” said Manish
Tewari, an official with India’s leading opposition party, the Indian National
Congress, who supported the release of the film.
The Indian police services are taking no
chances, busing reinforcements into place on Wednesday.
“We have geared up our local intelligence
machinery,” said Anand Kumar, a police chief in Lucknow, in northern India. “We
have also told them to deploy policemen at sensitive points. We have asked the
cinema owners also to deploy their own private security.”
Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, one of
India’s most acclaimed, “Padmaavat” was believed to have cost around $30
million.
But many cinema owners are refusing to show
it. They are frightened for their own safety, they say.
This is especially true in Gujarat and
Rajasthan, two states in northern India with large populations from the Rajput
caste, historically associated with warriors. The Padmavati legend, rooted in a
poem written in the 16th century, is set in a Rajput kingdom. The first — and
loudest — voices against the film have been Rajputs.
The chief ministers of several states
controlled by India’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, tried to block
the film’s release, on the grounds it could stir violence. But India’s Supreme
Court last week overturned all bans and ordered the film’s release.
A state-level Bharatiya Janata Party official
even offered a bounty to behead the lead actress and the director. There seems
no end to the threats, some clearly pitched to stir up the masses.
Earlier this week, a Hindu extremist with
hundreds of thousands of Facebook followers threatened to kill himself on
Facebook Live if the film was released — but first he wanted to see how much
money it made.
The group of 300 women threatening mass
suicide said they were still awaiting a response from the government — and
ready to take their own lives.
News about the film has dominated television
coverage and the front pages of the biggest publications. Some schools said
they would be closed on Thursday over fears of violence.
“We behave rather strangely for a country acclaimed as the world’s largest democracy,” wrote Aroon Purie, editor in chief of one of India’s leading newsmagazines. “In a country beset with such serious problems as a slowing economy, crumbling infrastructure, suffocating pollution, ailing health care and a pathetic education system, the national conversation is dominated by a mythical character.”
“We behave rather strangely for a country acclaimed as the world’s largest democracy,” wrote Aroon Purie, editor in chief of one of India’s leading newsmagazines. “In a country beset with such serious problems as a slowing economy, crumbling infrastructure, suffocating pollution, ailing health care and a pathetic education system, the national conversation is dominated by a mythical character.”
