BHUBANESWAR: One more fraternity from film world on Sunday voiced her support for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati. Aparna Sen, who was on a brief visit to the city, condemned the raging protests against the film as ‘criminal activities’.“I think it’s ridiculous and shameful. It’s criminal. You are trying to curb a director’s freedom of expression and ruin his creativity,” the actor-turned-director said.
Slamming the Rajasthan Government, she said the protests reflected its inefficiency. Incidents like setting the sets on fire indicated a great lapse on the part of the administration, Sen said and wondered how the government couldn’t control the anti-social elements.
“Why do you need to cling on to such a vague thing like pride? Why do you have to carry your Bengali, Rajput, Marwari....pride? Even if you believe in that pride, why is it so weak? Why don’t you have the confidence in your pride over a particular culture? Will the greatness of your culture get diminished by a mere work of fiction,” she asked.
The period drama had sparked off controversies since January. Rajput community has been protesting against the film. Alleging that certain historical facts have been distorted in the movie, the Rajputs have demanded a ban on its release. Consequently, the film’s release has been postponed.