Forbes: Padmavati Controversy a Publicity Stunt

All across India, observers are horrified and aghast at the violent threat made by the ruling BJP party's Surajpal Amu, a mid-level media coordinator who issued this decree on Monday: "We will reward the ones beheading [Padmavatistar Deepika Padukone and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali] with Rs 10 crore ($1.5 million), and also take care of their family's needs.

The purported rationale for the threat is that the Rajasthan-based, right-wing caste organization Rajput Karni Sena has been correct in its violent opposition to the theatrical release of the Bansali-directed, Padukone-starring epic Padmavati, and that they just haven't gone far enough in their avowed reprisals. Surajpal Amu's threat was, according to the "official story, the push that was needed for Padmavati's financier and distributor Viacom 18 to back out of its December 1st release date and cool its heels until the threat could be mitigated.

But some jaded observers of Bollywood are aghast for another reason: they are convinced that the bounty offer was a craven publicity stunt concocted by Padmavati's producers. They note that the Karni Sena's claims about the film distorting history and tarnishing the legacy of their beloved 14th century queen Padmini are utterly false, as Bansali has repeatedly attested. Since almost no one has actually seen the film, they reason, how could so many people be legitimately up in arms against it?

Indian film producers I spoke with (who asked not to be named) suggested that at its huge budget of Rs. 190 crore ($29 million), the period drama was in imminent danger of losing a small fortune because it wouldn't have attracted enough filmgoers if released on December 1st. They suggest that Viacom 18 co-owner Mukesh Ambani, a billionaire with reportedly close ties with the BJP, recognized a good opportunity for the film and fanned the flames of the Karni Sena controversy in order to create a perfect storm of media attention for Padmavati. As one writer-producer suggested in an email to me:

"If this is true, it shouldn't take too much effort for [Ambani] to take a look at a risky proposition of a high budget movie like Padmavati, and think 'could we please have some controversy and free publicity'. Somebody close by is going to take the hint and make a few phone calls...

"Suddenly, there is a bounty on beheading Deepika Padukone, and an upping of the bounty amount from 5 Cr. to 10 Cr., by a BJP party member... There is a garish, glaring show of defiance, with some bringing swords to TV studios, to brandish their threats, all very benign and steeped in the need to save 'culture' of course!

"The BJP puts out a 'show cause notice' to the party worker, nothing more. Nobody takes the threat seriously, as it isn't coming from any dreaded organization known for any kind of violence, certainly not anyone who would [follow through on] a beheading threat.

"The sheer absence of serious law and order action against the rowdy elements should tell us not only that nobody takes those threats seriously, but looking just under the translucence of the situation, this couldn't have been staged better!"

If this hypothesis is correct, it would follow that Ambani's Network 18 Group would seize on the story and report it assiduously via its vast TV, print, internet and mobile content operations.

And that is exactly what has happened.

My correspondent continues:

"Why not take an extra month to do all of this, and most importantly, keep the 'controversy' simmering!? The actress says India has 'regressed' and the media laps it up. This would be the noisy, liberal media of India. There is no attempt made to resolve anything in a hurry, even with a release date coming up, etc...

"To all but the most naive, this whole effort would seem to be to let the controversy continue, and let the free publicity keep working its magic."

In a Bollywood market that is fatigued with period dramas like Padmavati, such a conspiracy has a lucidity and logic to it that are lacking from other possible explanations of the events of the past few days and weeks.

As for lead actress Padukone, there doesn't appear to be much real cause for concern.

Her security has been beefed up, and the parties threatening her won't be able to get anywhere close enough to her to be able to inflict any harm.

Source:https://www.forbes.com/sites/robcain/2017/11/23/indias-deepika-padukone-beheading-threat-sounds-suspiciously-like-a-publicity-stunt/2/#6b9d42c62300

Sanju Verma Retweeted Swati Chaturvedi