Thanks to tight security, Padmaavat has smooth landing in city

NAGPUR: A firm administration and determined cops posted outside theatres ensured Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat got a smooth release in the city. But all was not good on Wednesday evening at PVR in Empress Mall where members of Bajrang Dal protested the screening in evening at a paid preview show.
The film had a smooth sail at all multiplexes and a few single screens like Smruti, Jaishree and Janaki talkies on Thursday.“It is only because of the cops that we could run the shows peacefully and the audience felt safe too,” said Venkat Ramarao, unit manager at Jaswant Tuli Inox. “Though we were apprehensive about opening the bookings online, audience got the message through social media and we had up to 80% occupancy the first day,” he said.
Lauding the efforts of the police Praneet Singh, who owns Sudama and Janaki theatres, said, “So far the release in Nagpur has been without any incident as we began screening at Janaki without any trouble. I will be releasing the film at Sudama from Feb 2 as hopefully things will cool down by then and audience will also feel safer.”
Slogan shouting by members of Bajrang Dal was reported at Kamal talkies at Pachpaoli. “About a dozen people came to the theatre and shouted slogans against the film,” said Devanand Nate, manager of the theatre. “The show was not disrupted and no damage to property was done as they were taken away by the cops,” he added.
Members of Bajrang Dal remained adamant as they promised to scale up protest in coming days though deciding to keep it peaceful. “We are not damaging any property or tearing posters anywhere. All we want is that people should not watch this film as it is an insult to our national pride and heritage,” Vicky Pandey, member of Bajrang Dal who protested at PVR on Wednesday and at Kamal talkies on Thursday, told TOI. “That most theatres are empty shows our agitation has worked. From Friday, we will stand outside all theatres and give a rose to those coming to watch the movie. We will also tell them in future if another Mugal king attacks our country then we will be responsible for it.”
Saying Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani diluted the image of the great Peshwa warrior who was shown to have gone mad in his love for Mastani, Yash Sharma, another Bajrang Dal member who was at PVR on Wednesday evening, said, “We are supporting Kshatriya samaj who have asked for our help to stop these shows. But our protest is peaceful as we do not believe in harming the audience or damaging property.”
Security was tight and checking tough at the theatres on Thursday. “It took very long to walk past the entry gate as there was a long queue of men who were being frisked thoroughly,” said Fashion designer Arundhati Tahat, who watched the first show at PVR. Taking photos inside the theatre was not allowed at Jaswant Inox, Saif Khan, an engineering student who watched the film, said. “There were a lot of police. We were scared in the beginning but nothing untoward happened,” he added.