While a lot of Bollywood stars have come out in support of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus 'Padmavati', this time it's the Bengal film fraternity who decided to pay their respects to the film and the filmmaker. As a mark of solidarity, the Bengal film fraternity on Monday announced a 15-minute blackout in the entire industry on Tuesday afternoon. Calling it their contribution to the protest against the ongoing agitation over the release of 'Padmavati'. National Award-winning Bengali filmmaker Gautam Ghose said a debate over the film only makes sense after the film gets released.
"As a token protest against the untoward incidents that are happening surrounding 'Padmavati', we will hold a blackout for 15 minutes from 12 noon to 12.15 p.m tomorrow (Tuesday). It would be a complete blackout of all departments starting from the studio to post-production units,” Ghose said. “It is true that in a democratic country, there should be voices of dissent and debate. We welcome the debate about 'Padmavati'. But the debate should start after the release of the film,” he added. “It is important that we find out why this is happening. This has no logic. Let us first see the film. There is a censor board to take care of things,” he continued.
The members of the film fraternity also criticised BJP leader Surajpal Amu’s comments against state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for welcoming the film in Bengal. “In West Bengal, our Chief Minister has taken a different stand. She has invited the 'Padmavati' unit to release the film here. And now, bad things are being said against her. Where are we heading with all this. It seems we have gone back to the medieval ages,” Ghose said.
Well, we wonder when all this drama will come to an end. Stay tuned for more updates.
Credits: DNA