It seemed like a clear road for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat after Akshay Kumar agreed to defer the release of Padman for a couple of weeks. Supreme Court’s green signal to the film and Padman’s deferment was the double relief for the period drama. But the clouds of trouble haven’t left Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s sky yet. Despite the Supreme Court’s decision to lift the ban on the movie and allow the release across India, film exhibitors in Rajasthan remain hesitant about the release, finding no distributors.
"We have no distributor yet. The film has not been sold to anyone. All the rights lie with Bhansali alone. I don't think the film will be released until the controversy is resolved within the state," Sunil Bansal, a film distributor told DNA.
State officials from INOX told DNA that they are in touch with local police and evaluating law and order of the state before zeroing on anything.
"The distributor hasn't been finalised yet. We generally don't flout orders. So, we will go ahead with whatever the authorities decide. We are awaiting a police orders. Nothing can anyway be done until a distributor comes in," the official said.
Film exhibitors were earlier relying on Akshay Kumar’s Padman, which was supposed to release on the same day as Padmaavat. They were left dismayed after the actor deferred the film’s release to February. However, local theatres including Raj Mandir, refused airing Padmaavat, regardless of Padman’s release.
