Rohan Dua (THE TIMES OF INDIA; November 30, 2018)

Udaipur: Former Lok Sabha MP and the scion of the erstwhile Mewar royal family, Maharana Mahendra Singh, has disclosed that “someone” approached him and his son with a hefty sum of money to secure the royal family’s go ahead for the release of controversial Padmaavat earlier this year.

Padmaavat, a film on life of queen Padmavati, wife of 13th century Rajput ruler Rawal Ratan Singh, was opposed by members of the community in several states. While the film was allowed to be released in some states after some modification and emphasis by its director Sanjay Leela Bhansali that it was a work of fiction, Padmaavat continues to be banned in Rajasthan. Singh (77) is the senior most living descendant of Ratan Singh.

The erstwhile Mewar royal family, along with other members of the Rajput community, had also opposed the film’s release earlier this year. Singh told TOI, “There was an unforgivable scene when someone came to me with the offer that if I stopped objecting to the film they would give me a lot of money. I could have nearly slapped the man and thrown him out. I am sorry about this, I am not a violent person.”

However, Singh, former MP from Chittorgarh, did not reveal the identity of the person or the amount offered by the latter. He also said that the makers of the film and the censor board approached him to seek his sanction for the film but the move was belated.

“The filmmakers themselves approached us asking for our approval. That was before the release of the movie. Censor board people came to us. I said it’s too late. Finally, I told them, ‘If we are going to make a suggestion, how much of it you are going to accept?’ They bungled up. We were going into unspoken impasse. There was a breakdown,” he said.

He said the objection to the film was not just by Rajputs but all sections of society in Mewar and neighbourhood regions. “I have not seen the film. I am not going to see it either. From the reports I got, there are still scenes objectionable in the film. All sorts of society members thought there was nonsense in the film that is not going to be liked,” Singh said.