Can anyone dare to make a film on Prophet: Giriraj Singh on Padmaavat

There seems to be no end to the protests and politics over Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat. Hitting out the filmmaker now is Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh. He asked if anyone can dare to make a film on Prophet Muhammad, just like Bhansali did on Rani Padmini, also known as Rani Padmavati, of Rajasthan.

Talking to mediapersons, the BJP leader asked, “Kya himmat hai kisi ko ki Mohd Saheb par film banaake unka charitra dikhaaye (Can anyone dare to make a film on Prophet Muhammad and show his character?)”

He further questioned as to why Bhansali did not stop the shooting of Padmaavat, which stars Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles, when protests erupted in Rajasthan.

Singh also expressed his anguish over the Ghoomar song, wherein Deepika Padukone, who is playing Rani Padmavati in the movie, is seen dancing. The Minister said he would never forgive if someone makes a film on father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, and shows him dancing.

“Gandhi ji par film bane aur unko kathak aur bhangra mein dikhaaye to main maaf nahi karunga. (If a film is made on Gandhi ji, and he is shown doing kathak or bhangra, I will never forgive),” said Giriraj Singh.

This comes even as the film has finally been released in cinema halls after months of protests, politics and legal battle. It’s been three days since the release of the film and it is on the way to garnering Rs 100 crore quite soon.

On the day of the release of the film on January 25, protests, even violent in nature, were held by groups like Sri Rajput Karni Sena in different parts of the country. While some ticket counters were vandalised, protesters also burnt posters of the film. However, acting on the directions of the Supreme Court, state governments did their best to prevent any untoward incident and deployed heavy police security at cinema halls.