The #Padmavati (now "Padmavat") Controversy Timeline

25th January 2018 is a date which will be etched in the memory of the entire Indian population (well most of them, if not all) as the day when #Padmavati (now "officially" Padmavat) releases (hopefully!). This film has been given more weightage (footage or bhaav if we talk in teenager language) than any social issue faced in Mumbai. The outrage and debates that the movie has sparked months before it's release is enormous. And to think the trailer had only one dialogue. No wonder they say a "picture" speaks a 1000 words. Literally.

I'm not sure how many of these facts are actually true (as we don't know the other part of the story) even though they are from Wikipedia. What we do know is that only AFTER we see the movie (with or without the X number of cuts) will we be able to come to the conclusion of whether or the not the  attacks and media hype were necessary (or genuine in the first place) or if they were only a marketing gimmick (and we've been taken for a ride all along).



For anyone who has not followed the story closely (or got bored of the never-ending controversies somewhere in the middle), here is a timeline of the number of times #Padmavati made headlines in the papers and on the internet:

SOURCE - WIKIPEDIA

1. January 2017 - The Shri Rajput Karni Sena, a Rajput organisation, accused the director of distorting the facts and portraying  the Rajput queen in a bad light, thus giving themselves a reason to vandalize the sets of the film. Later, it was found out that none of there allegations were true and were all planted by the activists themselves in hopes of monetary gain.

2. Next, an Indian politician offered a reward for anyone who would hit Sanjay Leela Bhansali with a shoe (this was condemned by people from the film industry). He was later attacked by the Karni Sena on the sets.

3. March 2017 - Once again the Karni Sena activists broke 50 year old mirrors which were installed in the Padmini Palace (these apparently were the mirrors through which Rani Padmini showed her face to Alaudin Khilji).

4. Kolhapur - A mob of 20 to 30 people armed with petrol bombs set ablaze the film set while the crew was shooting. Costumes were destroyed and animals injured.

And of course there were threats of shutting down the theatres, banning it in their respective states(with or without the cuts ),  of breaking Ranveer Singh's legs (so filmy) and of cutting off Deepika Padukone's nose (which I found totally irrelevant. I mean, how can you say something like that to a person who is only doing his/her job? That threat was definitely overboard).

Nevertheless, the film, it's directors, producers, actors got a lot of support (which in the end matters the most, doesn't it ? The positive support part) and somewhere between 12 and 300 cuts (I'm not sure which number is correct). So I hope that I do get to see the film (before I begin my third year), now that it has got a new name and finally......a RELEASE DATE!