Poor Sanjay Leela Bhansali! The beleaguered director of the much anticipated and also unfortunately controversial period drama Padmavati must feel like he’s riding the horns of several dilemmas. A day before the Gujarat Election Commission reportedly recommended the shifting of his film’s release from December 1 to a later date due to the assembly elections in the state, Bhansali is also said to have received bad news indirectly from Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

According to sources, the CM is said to have conveyed at a political meeting that just like the Rajput caste organisation Karni Sena of Rajasthan, the people of Maharashtra too would not tolerate any distortion of history inPadmavati. The message was reportedly sent home to the filmmaker that if people were protesting against the film, then Bhansali ought to be careful before making any fictional work for his own interests.

Meanwhile, Bollywood is wondering whether this will be a big setback for Deepika Padukone who plays the title role in the film. Earlier, the actress was supposed to have reached out to I&B and Textiles Minister Smriti Irani for help in facilitating the film’s smooth release. Following this, Smriti is said to have spoken to Fadnavis, and the CM reportedly ordered the security around theatres screening Padmavati to be heightened at the time of its release. He also asked for security to be beefed up wherever promotions of the film were being held.

Sources reveal that after the Chief Minister's statement, the Mumbai Police is going to decide on what kind of security will be needed at the time of the film’s promotions and release. Just before this, Maharashtra Tourism Minister Jaykumar Rawal also demanded a ban on Padmavati and said the state government would write to the Central Board of Film Certification about this. Rawal, who claims to be a descendant of the clan of Rawal Ratan Singh, Rani Padmavati’s husband, said that history and historical references were being twisted in the film and a legal disclaimed was being inserted to just save one’s skin.