Sir — As Sanjay leela Bansali’s fim Padmavati, draws towards its release, fresh rows brings with it its own share of controversies. The film has been the center of controversy ever since its conception. Historic epics, whether as stage productions or celluloid creations, will always invite criticism for its contents simply for the reason that the chronology of events, as a testimony of the past, is often steeped in contradictions.
Becoming increasingly difficult to rely on any one particular version as the narration of happenings of a particular incident in the past, quite often, the accounts lose sheen of factuality to move over to the realms of probability. It is this possibility, when tampered with, which leads to exhibitions of public anger in evidence today! Be that as it may, it is never advisable to distort facts.
It would, however, be foolish to imagine that the entertainment industry has remained immune to the modulating trends which have described the evolution of sales and marketing strategies in other business enterprises. Ascribe it to the ‘curiosity factor’ if you must! Protests, for whatever reasons, calling for a ban or stalling the release of a film, as a manifestation of this ruse, have invariably helped the movie do exceedingly well at the box-office. Incident-free openings, in spite of the heat generated, more than substantiates this argument.