Padmaavat opens under security cover

New Delhi/ Mumbai: The show must go on. And it did on Thursday as Sanjay Leela Bhansali's much debated ‘Padmaavat’ unspooled in single and multiplex screens across the country under the shadow of security personnel and simmering tensions.

A day after a school bus in Gurgaon was attacked by stone-pelting protesters, audiences defied threats of violence to stream into theatres to watch the opening day shows of the period film starring Bollywood A-listers Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor.

Many of those who watched the film condemned the violence of the last few weeks and said there is nothing objectionable in it. The Rs 150-crore film was released in 4,000 screens across the country, a source in the trade said.

The Multiplex Association of India said the film would not be screened in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa in view of the tenuous law and order situation.
Initial reports suggested good business for the film, which has been the focal point of protests by various Rajput groups, which allege that it distorts their history and defames their queen Padmavati. The tension was palpable with security personnel mounting vigil at malls, cineplexes and single screen halls but the day passed off without any major incident.

In Uttar Pradesh's temple town of Varanasi, a man attempted to immolate himself outside a mall but was stopped from doing so. The state - where a fringe group on Wednesday announced a bounty for Deepika Padukone's nose -- was on high alert. Some places in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh saw sporadic violence though the film was not released there.

Arterial roads were blocked, shops vandalised and bike rallies taken out in parts of Rajasthan. Nearly two dozen shops were damaged in stone-pelting incidents in Udaipur. In Gurgaon, schools were closed following Wednesday’s violence and tension persisted but many multiplexes screened the film. Elsewhere in the state, fearing ransacking of their properties, theatre owners in places such as Sonipat and Panchkula refused to screen the movie. Neighbouring Punjab was relatively more relaxed.

In Madhya Pradesh, educational institutions remained open but commercial establishments were closed in places such as Indore, Ujjain and Gwalior. In Gujarat, however, the bandh called by the Karni Sena evoked a tepid response with educational institutions, offices and markets open in most parts of the state.