According To Box Office India, Padmavati which is one of costliest Hindi films made if not the costliest is now pretty certain not to release on its schedule date of 1st December.
The film has not be seen by the censor board yet and its very unlikely it will be seen before 1st December unless something changes the current scenario.
Although the makers have not postponed the film yet and still say its coming on 1st December but they will probably have to change that stance soon.
The blame here will be put on the censor board but its probably pressure from powers above that the film should not be released yet.
This puts the censor board in a position as Padmavati probably has nothing in the film for which it cant be certified so they only way around is not watch the film.
The film has been reportedly sent back to the makers from the censor board as the disclaimer of the film was left blank whether the film is fictional or historical.
This would not be a major issue but for this film it is a different case as it should be clear whether it is a historical or a fictional story as the controversy the film is involved in has come about as the film is seen as a historical.
Padmavati is getting step motherly treatment when there is probably nothing wrong with film. There will be cinematic liberties but these have been taken in every major film which tells a historical story.
This has to be done for the story to reach as many people as possible as if you present the story not in cinema format then there is no purpose of making the film for the theatrical audience. The film is facing protests across the country for it not to be released from god knows how many groups and most of the public in India would not even heard about these groups.
The director and actors are been threatened yet none of the groups have no idea what is in the film as they have not seen. It becomes understandable if the film is released then it is objected to.
These groups are being called fringe groups and they want publicity and media has been giving it over the last 6-8 months and this just encourages them more.
When one group gets free publicity it does not take time for other to join and make it a complete circus.
But this is not to say the team of Padmavati are completely innocent. No doubt they are at the receiving end but its not as if this controversy started few weeks back.
It has been going on for months and its was even reported the director was attacked while shooting in Rajasthan. So when such things happen these issues should be cleared as soon as possible especially if your film has no fault because these fringe groups have nothing to lose but the people involved with Padmavati do.
But what happens is that because of these external controversies, films create huge awareness and hype among the audience because they then want to see what is in the film which is causing such a big stir.
This then leads to issues not being cleared as its actually helping the film and eventually the thought is it will die down in time but sometimes it blows up like it has done here.
Then the trailer hits and you have the industry, media and trade raving like there has been no such thing and even comparing it with a Mughal E Azam and Bahubali when any naked eye can tell straight away that to be an epic or classic there has to be a clash and there was no such thing here.
This is not to say the film will not have that epic clash to be a real big film but it was not there in the trailer.
On top there is no powerhouses like Dilip Kumar or Prithviraj Kapoor like Mughal E Azam and the creativity of the look and scale or commercial elements are not at the Bahubali level.
Even the actors were boasting which is not new but not to these excessive by declaring it a classic and epic before release and this considering the scenario will just fuel the other negative parties more so a lower profile is the need of the hour.
In fact these things are for the audience to decide and these sort of claims should not be made but maybe it was a defensive reaction as to the negativity by these groups for the film.
The promo was good but its not the best ever and not even best of 2017 and it has to remembered that it is the hype generated by the controversy which takes the film to a different level as far as the audience is concerned not the trailer.
The makers also showed the film to the media without it being censored and this is the same media which has given fuel to the fringe groups as if their actions are the most important news happening across the world and this is likely to aggravate the censor board further.
Sadly the film is in a bit of a mess right at the moment and it will be trying times for not only makers of Padmavati but the industry in general as Padmavati has created a problem for the censor board which could also delay other films.
At the moment the earliest release for Padmavati looks 15 December and its not of the question it will be delayed further. The only plus (if it can be called that now considering what has happenned) is that if it manages to get a proper clean release across the country it can open 25-50% higher than it would have if all this had not all this happenned.
