Padmaavat row: Rajasthan man climbs tower with petrol bottle demanding ban

Demanding a countrywide ban on the upcoming controversial Indian film ‘Padmaavat’, a young man in Rajasthan climbed a 350-feet tall mobile tower with a bottle of petrol on Monday.

Brandishing the bottle of petrol, the youth said he would climb down only when the Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh-starrer movie is banned across India.

In Rajasthan, protests against the film have intensified ever since the Supreme Court paved way for its countrywide release on January 25. On Sunday, thousands of women brandishing swords took out a ‘Chetavani Rally’ (warning march) in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh town, demanding a ban on the film and threatening to do self-immolation (jauhar) if the authorities fail to stop its release.

Padmaavat is based on the poem Padmavat, written by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi in the 15th century. The ballad narrates the tale of the beautiful Rani Padmini of Chittor (played by Deepika) and Turkish invader Alauddin Khilji's (Ranveer) pursuit of her. The film angered many after the Shree Rajput Karni Sena alleged it distorted historical facts related to the Rajput community.

Controversial Haryana BJP leader Suraj Pal Amu, who had quit as party's chief media coordinator in November, had led protests against the film and even offered 10 crore as "reward to behead" Bhansali and the film's lead actor Deepika Padukone.

Padmaavat was earlier slated for release on December 1, but the studio had to defer it amid the controversy the film stirred up in sections of the country.