Padmaavat releases amid high security; no screening in 4 states

Agencies

January 25, 2018

Mumbai, Jan 25: Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s controversial film Padmaavat hits theatres today amid high security. The film starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, which has been in the eye of storm ever since its inception, was initially slated to release on December 1 last year. And now, after almost over a month-and-a-half, moviegoers looking forward to the film will get to watch the film.

The film inspired by 16th century fictional poem titled Padmavat penned by Sufi pet Malik Muhammed Jayasi, stars Deepika as Rani Padmavati, Shahid as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer as Alauddin Khilji.

The Central Board of Film Certification cleared the film for screening after suggesting five modifications that the makers agreed to incorporate. After much delay and deliberation, the film will open in theatres and multiplexes today in various states.

The multiplex association of India has said that the film will not be released in four states - Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa. Representatives of the body said that they had decided to not screen the movie in these states because the administration told them that the law and order situation is not conducive.

The makers had even invited the Rajput Karni Sena to watch the film but the invitation was declined by the group that is hell bent on stopping Padmaavat from releasing.

Violent protests spread to towns and cities in many states including Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra and UP, a day ahead of the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Padmaavat, as fringe groups opposing the film remained defiant.

A bus was torched and a highway blocked in Haryana's Gurgaon where protesters violated prohibitory orders while the police had to use force to disperse an agitating mob in Lucknow.

Karni Sena members allegedly damaged two state roadways buses in Jaipur and blocked a road in the city's Kalwar area scores of activists were held in Mumbai and Nashik.

Meanwhile, in Ahmedabad, the police arrested 50 people in connection with the violence and vandalism outside malls last night. As many as 30 bikes and scooters, parked outside three multiplexes in the city were set ablaze by protesters.

In a yet another worrying sign for the controversy-mired flick, the Multiplex Association of India, which represents about 75 per cent of multiplex owners, said the film would not be screened in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa.

The Supreme Court had however paved the way for the nationwide release of Padmaavat after some states had issued notifications banning the film.

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Israel killing Palestinian children in Gaza every day despite ceasefire: UNICEF

News Network

November 22,2025

The Israeli regime’s forces have killed two Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip every day since the ceasefire began in early October, UNICEF has warned.

The UN children’s agency said on Friday that Israeli forces continue to attack Palestinians in Gaza even though the agreement was meant to stop the killing.

“Since 11 October, while the ceasefire has been in effect, at least 67 children have been killed in conflict-related incidents in the Gaza Strip. Dozens more have been injured. That is an average of almost two children killed every day since the ceasefire took effect,” UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said in Geneva, reminding that each number in the statistics represents a child whose life had ended violently.

“These are not statistics,” he said. “Each child had a story, a family, and a future that was stolen from them.”

Data from Palestinian factions, human rights groups, and government bodies recorded since the US-brokered ceasefire deal went into effect on October 10 show that Israeli forces have carried out numerous attacks, each constituting a separate ceasefire violation.

UNICEF teams say they repeatedly continue to witness heart-wrenching scenes of fearful Palestinian children sleeping outdoors with amputated limbs, while others live as orphans in flooded, makeshift shelters.

“I saw this myself in August. There is no safe place for them. The world cannot normalize their suffering,” Pires said, lamenting that the UN could “do a lot more if the aid that is really needed was entering faster.”

The UNICEF spokesperson warned that with the advent of winter, the risks for hundreds of thousands of displaced children will increase.

He warned, “The stakes are incredibly high” for children as winter acts as a threat multiplier, where children have no heating, no insulation, and few blankets. He said respiratory infections rise.

“Too many children have already paid the highest price,” Pires said. “Too many are still paying it, even under a ceasefire. The world promised them it would stop and that we would protect them.”

“Now we must act like it,” the UNICEF spokesperson added.

Since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023, it has killed nearly 70,000 people in the territory, most of them women and children, and injured over 170,000 more, while reducing most of the structures in the enclave to rubble.

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