At the root of the controversy over the release of the Hindi feature film, Padmavati, is, first, the saffron brotherhood’s interpretation of history with a pronounced anti-Muslim bias and, secondly, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) overt and covert attempts to whittle down institutional autonomy.
Even if the BJP's seemingly political use of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is a continuation of the practice of its predecessor which made the Supreme Court call the CBI a "caged parrot", the party can be said to have broken new ground by letting vandals of the Hindu Right vent their anger against Padmavati and, thereby, undermining the authority of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
In this case, too, there are precedents as when the Congress objected to the film, Indu Sarkar, because of its focus on Indira Gandhi.
But the saffron offensive against Padmavati is making a greater impact because of the clout which the Sangh Parivar affiliates enjoy in view of their proximity to power.