Padmavati: Rs 5 crore bounty announced on Deepika, dir’s heads, actress asked to quit India

A member of Kshatriya community announced a bounty of Rs 5 crore on the heads of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Deepika Padukone for their film Padmavati.

Mumbai, Nov 17: With each passing day the controversy over the upcoming Bollywood film, Padmavati, is getting dirtier. After a member of the Rajput Karni Sena--the outfit at the forefront on demanding a ban on the period film based on the life of queen Padmini from Chittor, Rajasthan--openly threatened to chop off lead actress Deepika Padukone's nose on Thursday, a resident of Meerut, Uttar Pradesh announced a bounty of Rs 5 crore on the heads of the director of the film, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and Deepika, who is playing the titular role in the film.

The protest over the Bollywood big-budget drama, which is fast spreading across the country, has been triggered by allegations that the makers of Padmavati have wrongly portrayed queen Padmini in the film and thus the movie hurt the sentiments of Hindus and Rajput community in particular.

On Thursday, Meerut's Thakur Abhishek Som of Sardhana Chaubisi, who claimed affiliation to the Samajwadi Party (SP), said that his community, Kshatriya, will not tolerate wrongful portrayal of the queen and meddling with its rich heritage.

Claiming that his political affiliations had nothing to do with his stand, Som warned that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be able to save the Bollywood filmmaker and the actor.

Demanding a ban on the movie, Som told the media that it would be better if Deepika left the country or else her head will be chopped off. "I am making this declaration on behalf of the Kshatriya Samaj," he said.

He accused Bhansali of lacking knowledge about history and that he was only interested in box office profits even if it meant meddling with history. Som said he was ready to face the consequence of his stand on the issue.

Looking at the numbers of threats being received by both Bhansali and Deepika, special police protection is being provided to both of them.

In fact, the Rajput Karni Sena has announced a Bharat Bandh (all-India shutdown) if the film gets released on December 1, as announced by the makers of Padmavati. The film is currently waiting for a clearance from the Censor Board.

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