Following months of protests and severe censorship, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat was finally released in India last week.
This film, however, has been banned from releasing in Malaysia over concerns regarding the “sensitivities of Islam”. Ironically, the protests in India were over offending "Hindu sentiments".
Malaysia's film censorship board has reportedly not cleared the film on grounds that it might offend the Muslims in the country.
#Malaysia has banned #Padmaavat
— Ramesh Bala (@rameshlaus) January 30, 2018
“The storyline of the film touches on the sensitivities of Islam. That in itself is a matter of grave concern in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country.”
Local Distributor #AntennaEntertainment is appealing the ban.. It will be heard today..
#Padmaavat is banned in Malaysia.
— Surendhar MK (@SurendharMK) January 30, 2018
Censor board chairman Mohd Zamberi Abdul Aziz's statement: "The storyline of the film touches on the sensitivities of Islam. That in itself is a matter of grave concern in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country." #PadmaavatRow
#Malaysia bans Bollywood Film #Padmaavat. The National Film Censorship Board has denied permission for the movie to release in Maalysia Padmaavat's local distributor will appeal the decision @NewsX
— Latha Srinivasan (@latasrinivasan) January 29, 2018
The film starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor has already undergone several cuts and a name change in India before it could be released.
The film faced several protests from various Rajput groups in India on the basis that it has distorted facts and had shown Padmavati, a Sinhala princesses who married a Rajput king according to a poem, in bad light.
The CBFC committee also asked for Deepika Padukone’s mid-riff to be covered in the Ghoomar dance sequence following which CGI was used.
Actor Swara Bhaskar in an open letter had questioned the director for choosing to glorify the archaic practice of Jauhar in his magnum opus. “At The End of Your Magnum Opus… I Felt Reduced to a Vagina – Only” she wrote.
Arjun Sampath, President of Hindu Makkal Katchi, who had protested its release, has since lauded Padmaavat upon watching the film, noting that it a must-watch for everyone.
Meanwhile, the film was released in Pakistan, where Bollywood films are hugely popular, with a ‘U’ certificate without any cuts.
Mobashir Hasan, Chairman of the Pakistani certification board which is called Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC), announced on Twitter that the film has been passed by the board. “Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) has declared a feature film containing Indian cast and crew, ‘Padmaavat’, without any excision suitable for public exhibition in the cinemas with a ‘U’ certification,” he wrote on Twitter.
Central Board of Film Censors #CBFC has declared a feature film containing Indian cast & crew #Padmaavat without any excision suitable for public exhibition in the cinemas with a ‘U’ certification. #CBFC #Unbiasedforartscreativity&healthy entertainment
— Mobashir Hasan (@BABUCRATE) January 24, 2018
Malaysia has a history of banning several films on various grounds. Last year it had banned the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast due to references to same-sex relationships in the movie.