It couldn’t be a worse publicity reel for Rajasthan. As filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali was directing his movie Padmavati in Jaipur’s Jaigarh Fort, a mobile camera captured grainy shots of Karni Sena protesters barging in, shouting slogans, damaging equipment, pushing crew members, even assaulting Bhansali, over his cinematic subject, Padmavati, the fabled Rajput queen. Expectedly, shooting stopped; Bhansali and his crew packed up and left Jaipur. The film crew is shaken by the assault. It must also feel insecure because of the desultory attitude of the state — and the resounding silence of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Jaipur police did arrest five Karni Sena members; but they were released apparently as no complaint was filed. It is time Vasundhara Raje acknowledges something rotting in the state of Rajasthan.
WATCH VIDEO | MoS Giriraj Singh Backs Protests Against Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati
Watch | Sanjay Leela Bhansali Slapped And Assaulted By Protesters On Padmavati Sets In Jaipur
Significantly, the response of all politicians has been to overlook the glaring challenge to the writ of the state. From the Congress to BJP, no powerful voice supports beleaguered artists, writers or filmmakers, instead looking away from “non-state” censors crushing fundamental freedoms of individuals and groups. Today, as Bhansali is reportedly pressured into dropping certain sequences, even changing the title of his under-production movie, Vasundhara Raje must speak up. Known for initiating modern governance reforms, Raje should reach out to Bhansali now and assure Padmavati’s crew — and a wider audience — that Jaipur is not a decaying feudal palace, crumbling under its own anxieties, but a modern Hawa Mahal, open to a diverse universe, able to handle disagreement and dissonance with maturity. Raje must speak boldly against those imperilling free expression — and assure protection to those creating art under Jaipur’s pink skies.
