Mumbai, Jan 14 (PTI) Sanjay Leela Bhansali today saidthat his much-awaited directorial venture "Padmaavat" is histribute to the glorious stories of Rajput "honour, valour andvigour".
The director said, the lavishly mounted period drama,which will hit the screens on January 25, is a dream come truefor him.
"'Padmaavat' is a dream come true for me. I have alwaysbeen fascinated by the stories of honour, valour and vigour ofour great Rajput warriors that have been captured sobeautifully in our literature and this movie is my homage tothose glorious stories," Bhansali said in a statement.
Featuring Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, ShahidKapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as AlauddinKhilji, the film got stuck in controversy after various Rajputgroups, including Rajput Karni Sena, raised their objectionstowards the content of the movie.
The film which was sent back to the makers, citing"technical issues" by the Central Board of Film Certificationwhen it was submitted in November, received a U/A certificatelast month along with five modifications.
During the country-wide protests against the film, manymembers from the industry came forward to support thefilmmaker and the cast.
In his statement, Bhansali also thanked the fraternityfor their unwavering support.
"I would also like to thank the entire film fraternityfor supporting Viacom18 and Bhansali Productions through theentire production and pre-release phase and hope they like thefilm they so supported," he said.
"Padmaavat" is based on 16th century Sufi poet MalikMuhammad Jayasi's epic poem "Padmavat". PTI KKP SHD RDSSHD.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.