No Padmaavat screening in Rajasthan, Gujarat, MP

JAIPUR: ‘Padmaavat’ will not release in Rajasthan, Gujarat and MP on Thursday as film distributors in the three states have decided not to pick its reels while cinema halls have agreed not to screen it, citing the precarious law and order situation there.

Some groups have even warned Censor Board chief Prasoon Joshi against visiting Jaipur for the upcoming literature festival there.

All three major distributors in Rajasthan—Marudhar Sign Entertainment, Yashraj Jai Pictures and AA Films—have refused to pick the film reels while the Multiplex Association of India has said no multiplex in Rajasthan and Gujarat will screen the movie in view of the potential risk to life and property.


“Gujarat, MP, Rajasthan, Bihar and UP will not screen the movie as distributors there have decided against it,” Karni Sena chief Lokendra Singh Kalvi said.

On Wednesday, protesters had blocked the national highways connecting Delhi and Jaipur and Ahmedabad and Vadodara. They had earlier indulged in widespread arson and violence in Ahmedabad. CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi is scheduled to be in Jaipur later this week for the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) that starts on Thursday.

“We have no love for him. The Rajasthan slogan of ‘padharo humare desh’ is not applicable to him. Joshi should consult Sanjay Leela Bhansali first as the latter knows what happens when you come uninvited to Rajasthan.

He would get beaten up,” Karni Sena president Mahipal Singh Makrana said.

Kalvi said he was sure Joshi will not turn up and claimed even the state government does not wish him to come for the literature festival.

However, Jaipur Police commissioner Sanjay Agarwal has assured full security to Joshi if he visits the city. Kalvi denied that the Karni Sena had given the movie any clean chit.