Shabana Azmi has implored the entire film industry — including Amitabh Bachchan — to boycott the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), over the Padmavati issue. However, Rahul Rawail, who has just been appointed the head of the jury to select films for the festival, feels otherwise.

Reasons Rahul, “Though I completely agree with Shabana on the need for the film industry to support Sanjay Leela Bhansali over the Padmavati issue, the boycott makes no sense. This is because the producers of Padmavati have voluntarily deferred their film’s release. This means that they’ve realised the situation is volatile and nerves need to be smoothed, tempers need to be lowered.”

Rahul feels that the boycott would serve no purpose. “The entire world is watching us. IFFI is not the place to protest over Padmavati,” he says.