Calling the act of vandalism and assault on the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Padmavati" in Jaipur "unacceptable", Film & Television Producers Guild of India Ltd has urged the government to take strong punitive action against the miscreants.
Bhansali was assaulted yesterday by members of a Rajput community group, who also stopped the shooting of "Padmavati" by vandalising the set at Jaigarh Fort, alleging that the director was "distorting facts".
Guild President Siddharth Roy Kapur strongly condemned the "despicable episode" and expressed unflinching support to Bhansali on behalf of the film industry.
"As President of The Film & Television Producers Guild of India and speaking on behalf of the entire film industry, I strongly condemn the acts of vandalism on the sets of 'Padmavati' as a direct attack on freedom of expression in our democracy.
"The film industry has become the softest target for any fringe group looking for media attention, and we need the strongest possible intervention from the concerned authorities to end this and to end it now," Siddharth said in a statement.
The producer further urged the state government as well as the central government to take action so that "it serves as a deterrent in preventing the recurrence of such unacceptable events in the future."
"We stand united and unflinching in our support of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and urge the Government of India and the State Government of Rajasthan to take immediate steps to ensure the strongest possible punitive action is taken against these miscreants."
The Guild pointed out that this is not the first time that fringe elements have "unilaterally taken the law into their own hands to disrupt shoots/film releases and cause tremendous financial losses to film producers."
"The film 'Jodhaa Akbar' was also not permitted to release in Rajasthan by the same group despite censor certification.
"It is a glaring paradox that on the one hand the Central Government, various State Governments along with the film fraternity has been leaving no stone unturned to universally project India as an attractive shooting locale and on the other such hands miscreants are resorting to hooliganism of the worst order to defeat the 'Shoot in India' endeavour," the statement read.
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