CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan non-committal on release of Padmaavat

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday dropped hints that his government was exploring possibilities of stopping release of Padmaavat in the state.

“Advocate General (AG) has been asked to study the Supreme Court verdict (staying ban on Padmaavat). After that we will explore scopes of placing our view in the SC. We have not taken any decision so far,” Mr Chouhan told reporters here while breaking his silence on the issue after the apex court ordered lifting of ban on the Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie on Thursday.

MP is among four BJP-ruled states in the country which have banned the controversial film.

In a related development, the Rajput Karni Sena has begun preparations to stage protests in front of cinema halls in the state where the movie was set to be released on January 25. “We will not violate SC order clearing way for release of the film in cinema halls. But, we will appeal the movie goers to boycott the movie as a show of solidarity with Rajput community which is hurt by distortion of its history in the movie”, general secretary of MP wing of Rajput society Deepak Chouhan told reporters. Sources said the activists of Karni Sena was also planning to blacken faces of the movie buffs who dared to come to the cinema halls to watch the film.