Changing Name Not Enough, Delete Scenes: Union Minister On Padmavat

Mumbai: Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Saturday said Bollywood film "Padmavat" should not be allowed to release till the scenes which were "offensive" to the Rajput community were deleted from it.

He added that he would meet Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Prasoon Joshi soon in this regard.

"Changing the name of the controversial film, 'Padmavati' (to 'Padmavat'), is not enough. Till the objections of the Rajput community as regards the film are not cleared, it should not be released," the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment said.

Stating that while the name of the film was changed, the story and scenes were not, Mr Athawale demanded that such scenes be deleted before the film was released. The Karni Sena, a Rajput group opposed to the film, had staged a protest outside the CBFC office over the clearance given to the film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

The Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor starrer is slated for a January 25 release.

IANS