Trouble for Sanjay Leela Bhansali again! 'Padmavati' sets in Kolhapur vandalised, set on fire

The set of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Padmavati was vandalised and set on fire in the Kolhapur district of Maharashtra at 10.30 pm on Tuesday. The police have reportedly arrested a few people in connection with the incident. Earlier,  the film's shooting in Jaipur was disrupted in January this year. 

According to media reports, animals were present on the sets of the film when around 40 to 50 men reached the sets armed with stones and lathis and set them on fire. Around 20 security guards got into a fight with the unidentified men. A few cars parked around the sets were also damaged. 

Bhansali had shifted the location of the shoot from Rajasthan to Kolhapur after he was attacked on the sets of the film in Jaipur. According to the Indian Express, a few fringe Rajput outfits alleged the film involves a dream sequence where Rani Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji get intimate.

However, Bhansali and his production house have dismissed the reports saying there is no such scene in the film. Historians have continually pointed out that Padmavat, a 16th century poem written by Malik Muhammad Jayasi on which the film is based, is a fictional work but all their claims seems to have fallen on deaf ears. 

Padmavati stars Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor and is being shot in Mumbai as well. According to reports, Bhansali is safe but the shooting of the film has been stopped until further notice.

Kolhapur (Maharashtra): Sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Padmavati vandalised and torched by unknown people, last night. pic.twitter.com/ZwGvDeGbQR

— ANI (@ANI_news) March 15, 2017

In January 2017, Shree Rajput Karni Sena activists attacked the sets of Padmavati in Jaipur and also misbehaved with Bhansali and the crew at the Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur. The activists had damaged cameras and other equipment due to which the director had to stall the shooting of the film.

Bhansali had issued a statement following the attack saying the "misunderstanding they had on the content of the film has been cleared and clarified. We have clearly stated that there is no romantic scene or song or dream sequence between Rani Padmavati and Allauddin Khilji... Shri Giriraj ji Lotwara, President of Shree Rajput Sabha has been extremely helpful in bringing the various Rajput organisations including the Karni Sena, Sangh Shakti, Pratap Foundation, Bhawani Niketan together to clarify this."