Sets of film 'Padmavati' set on fire in Maharashtra 
The sets of filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming film 'Padmavati' were vandalised and set on fire by 40-50 unidentified men in Kolhapur, Maharashtra on Tuesday night. A few cars parked outside the sets were also damaged. A report was filed with the police on Wednesday morning, and a few people have been arrested in connection to the case.   n
There seems to be no respite for filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. His upcoming film Padmavati has been under the scanner ever since the director announced the ambitious project. And after the Jaipur attack, Bhansali shifted base to Kolhapur in Maharashtra to resume the shooting of the film. But if reports are to be believed, the sets were once again attacked on Tuesday night, this time in Kolhapur. According to reports, 40-50 unidentified men tried to vandalise the sets and set it on fire. The men, armed with lathis and stones, stormed into the sets and started destroying the property. Reportedly, a few cars parked outside the sets were also damaged. "Police is probing this matter and further investigation is on. We have asked the production house to lodge formal complaint in this issue. Some one intentionally did this, that is for sure," said Deepak Kesarkar,  Minister of State for Home. It's been more than 13 hours since the incident took place but police has not got any concrete leads on this. Police is yet to identify the miscreants."It's failure on the part of government. They should take responsibility of this. Bhansali shifted venue for security reasons, but it's sad to see that the set was attacked here too. We condemn this act and demand government to nab the culprits," said, Jitendra Awhad, NCP MLA. It was only a few weeks ago that Bhansali decided to shift base to the Masai plateau, some 20km away from Kolhapur. Interestingly, the filmmaker beefed up the security after the Jaipur incident where he was manhandled by members of the Karni Sena and accused of distortion of history in Padmavati. The reason for the attack was that Bhansali was allegedly showing a romantic sequence between 14th century emperor Alauddin Khilji (played by Ranveer Singh) and Rani Padmini (played by Deepika Padukone), an incident which the Karni Sena claims had never happened in history and thus, filming the same would be an insult to the Rajputana pride.Interestingly, the filmmakers had never planned to have such a scene in the first place. Moreover, Rani Padmini is a character that was first written of in an epic poem named Padmavat by 16th century Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi. Padmini's existence is a matter of debate among historians. Meanwhile, it is reported Bhansali is safe, but the shooting of the film has been stalled till further notice. Apart from Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, Padmavati also stars Shahid Kapoor in a lead role.(With inputs from Shivangi Thakur)