Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu has assured that strict action would be taken against those who manhandled filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and disturbed the shoot of his upcoming film — Padmavati in Jaipur. It was on Friday that Rajpur group, Karni Sena visited the sets of Padmavati in Jaipur, hit Bhansali and also destroyed the equipment. Post this unfortunate incident, the entire film industry came into the support of the filmmaker calling the issue disgusting and completely undemocratic. So much so was the aggression that The Film & Television Producers Guild of India Ltd. also wrote to Information and Broadcasting minister requesting the government to intervene in the matter.
As reported by ANI, Naidu has strongly condemned the attack and also called Rajasthan’s Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje to look into the matter. This is what the agency tweeted:
Manhandling of #SanjayLeelaBhansali and disturbing the shooting of film is highly objectionable: M Venkaiah Naidu
No one can take law into own hands; Spoke to Vasundhara Raje ji and asked her to take necessary action: Venkaiah Naidu #SanjayLeelaBhansali
In a statement issued by The Film & Television Producers Guild of India Ltd., the Guild and the whole film industry is really shocked and saddened by this violent incident and stand with SLB.
On the sets photo from Padmvati shoot (Courtesy: InUth.com)
Guild President Siddharth Roy Kapur also urged the government to take strict action against and expressed his anger over the whole incident. He said:
As President of The Film & Television Producers Guild of India and speaking on behalf of the entire film industry, I strongly condemn the acts of vandalism on the sets of Padmavati as a direct attack on freedom of expression in our democracy. The film industry has become the softest target for any fringe group looking for media attention, and we need the strongest possible intervention from the concerned authorities to end this and to end it now. We stand united and unflinching in our support of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and urge the Government of India and the State Government of Rajasthan to take immediate steps to ensure the strongest possible punitive action is taken against these miscreants, so it serves as a deterrent in preventing the recurrence of such unacceptable events in the future.
More updates awaited.
