'Padmaavat' gets banned in Malaysia as it may hurt Islamic community

New Delhi: After courting a controversy in India , Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 'Padmaavat' has now been banned in Malaysia owing to its content, trade sources said on Tuesday.The Malaysian censor board has refused to screen the film in theatres and multiplexes because of its volatile nature, the sources said.

A certain movie producer commented that the film has been given the ‘not relevant’ marking in terms of screening, which is generally given to films which are likely to incite communal violence or unrest, the sources said.

Some Muslims in Malaysia have taken offense to the film, considering it as objectionable to the Islam community. The chairman of National Film Censorship Board (LPF) Mohammad Zamberi Abdul Aziz said,"the storyline of the film may touch the sensitivities of the Islamic community and that it is a grave concern in a country like Malaysia which has a Muslim majority."Mr Aziz also added that the film's distributors have filed an appeal before the Film Appeals Committee, which will be heard by it on January 30. But until the decision arrives, Aziz has refused to comment any further on the matter.

Inspired by the poetry written by Sufi Muhammad Jayasi in 1540, 'Padmaavat' talks about the beauty of Rani Padmaavati and how emperor Alauddin Khilji gets obsessed over it. The movie was released worldwide on January 25.(UNI)