Masked attackers torched the base camp of the sets of Bollywood film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s much-awaited movie, Padmavati in Kolhapur. It was indeed a pity that none of the attackers has been identified. The dress material, costumes, shoes, expensive drapery and wooden logs and planks used to recreate a medieval India setting were reduced to ashes. Most of the material was packed in metal suitcases and the loss is estimated at Rs 4 crore. The shooting of the movie was stalled by members of a group called the Karni Sena who allegedly assaulted Bhansali and tried to vandalise the sets at Jaipur’s Jaigarh Fort early this year. The group was protesting against what it claimed was fictitious facts. Bhansali, who had denied any such scenes existed, had called off shooting at the fort. It is time to avoid mob violence and play cool in the sets to avoid such happenings in the future shootings of the controversial film.
S Abhishek Ramaswamy
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
