BJP frowns upon party MP for trying to mediate 'Padmavati' row

BJP member Anurag Thakur's attempt to play the mediator in the "Padmavati" row by  summoning  the film's director Sanjay Leela Bhansali before a parliamentary committee chaired by him, has not gone down well with the BJP as well as the Modi government.

Both, party and government functionaries, frowned upon the "unnecessary" step of calling Bhansali and censor board chairman Prasoon Joshi before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology and Information and Broadcasting. They were appreciative of BJP veteran L K Advani's intervention to rein in Thakur at the meeting on Thursday.

Sources said the "Padmavati" row would have "gone out of hand" had the Committee made any observations or taken any decision as it would have been violative of the Supreme Court judgement that the Central Board of Film Certification was the final authority on vetting movies.

Advani had objected to grilling Bhansali, pointing out that cross-examination of the filmmaker was not the agenda.

Several members of the Committee had objected to the screening of the film to a select audience, two editors and half-a-dozen of Bhansali's friends - before the censor board could certify it.

Ban call opposed  

A section in the Modi government also took exception to the reference to a 'ban' on the movie declared by chief ministers both of the Congress and the BJP.

Thakur's office tried to project him as a mediator, who had called Bhansali, Joshi and I&B Ministry officials before the Parliamentary Committee in an attempt to "end the controversy".