Bajirao Mastani descendants: “Don’t want movie ban but revision”

Descendants of Maratha warrior Peshwa Bajirao and his wife Mastani today demanded removal of two songs from the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed “Bajirao Mastani” and urged the director to show the movie before release.

They alleged that the songs “Pinga” and “Malhari” from the film distort facts and show their ancestors in poor light.

“We haven’t seen the movie yet but the promos are very misleading. The ‘Pinga’ song features Mastani and Kashibai dancing together which is impossible, which never happened in the history,” Udaysinh Peshwa, descendant of Bajirao Peshwa told reporters.

“The other song ‘Malhari’, shows Bajirao dancing and the lyrics are very wrong. We want these two songs to be removed from the film and the movie be shown to us before the release.

Produced and directed by Bhansali, the film starring Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra, is scheduled to release on December 18.

Awais Bahadur, heir of Mastani, said the makers did not consult the family before making the film.

“Has there ever been a king in India who made his wives dance in his court? They should’ve consulted us before making the film. We don’t want to ban it, show us the film, remove all the objectionable shots and then release it.”

Udaysinh said Bhansali had promised the family that it will be an excellent film when they were invited on the sets of the film.

“I didn’t visit. My family was there. They even requested him to keep the story true to the history. He had promised.”

The film is based on the book “Rau Kashibai” which, Udaysinh said, had faults too.

Earlier, the descendants had filed a plea in the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking a stay on the release of “Bajirao Mastani.”

Shaheen Awais Bahadur, heir of Mastani, said, “We had tweeted Bhansali requesting him to talk to us regarding the film. But he still hasn’t replied to even our notice.”

Satyasheelraje Dabhade, descendant of Umabaisaheb Khanderao Dabhade, the only female Commander in charge of the Maratha Army, said the movie takes certain cinematic liberties which is “not right.”

“The liberty taken over here is not right. You cannot have Bajirao jumping on an elephant’s trunk and beheading someone. This is not fiction, this is history and it should be shown that way.”

The descendants said they have written letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and even the censor board regarding the matter but have not received any response yet.

Inputs by PTI

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