Padmaavat: Farhan Akhtar slams protesters for attacking school bus

New Delhi: Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus 'Padmaavat' starring Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor has been embroiled in controversy ever since the film was announced. 

Leaders of the Rajput Karni Sena have threatened and staged violent protests against the release of the movie alleging distortion of historical facts. The filmmakers, on the other hand, the makers have clarified umpteen times that the film doesn't contain any objectionable scene.

On Wednesday, 20-25 students of a Gurugram school had a narrow escape when a group of Karni Sena protesters attacked and pelted stones on a bus with kids and female staff on-board. 

Condemning the incident, actor-director Farhan Akhtar took to Twitter and hit out at protesters for attacking young children. "Attacking a school bus is not an agitation. It is terrorism. The people who did it are terrorists," he tweeted.

In a video run on several news channels, children were seen totally shaken and terrorised by the act. The students were on their way home when the group attacked the school bus with bamboo sticks asking the driver to stop the vehicle. When the driver did not comply, the miscreants pelted stones at the vehicle.  The school bus staffer asked the kids to crawl under seats for safety and directed the driver to not stop it, Ravinder Kumar, PRO, Gurgaon Police said. "Some of the bus windows shattered and terrified kids cried for help. Fortunately, none of the children was hurt in the attack," Kumar said.

Meanwhile, 'Padmaavat' on Thursday hit screens across India barring a few states, a day after fringe Rajput groups protested violently against its release in several states, including Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The Supreme Court had last week cleared the decks for the film's all-India release.

Starring Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji, the film was initially scheduled to release on December 1, but had to be postponed as the Central Board of Film Certification had not issued a certificate.
 
(With PTI inputs)