Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming film, Padmavati , is a story about a story. It is based on a 16th-century literary saga by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi , a romantic fiction about Delhi sultan Alauddin Khilji's sack of Chittor which itself had occurred over 200 years earlier, in 1303. The legend has been passed down as popular history for years and used to demonise Islamic empires. According to the Imperial Gazetter of India, 1909, “in the final verses of his work, the poet explains that it is all an allegory . To an innocent mind, it was a subtle message: beware of bearded men in Muslim attire.

Source: Economic Times January 29, 2017 05:50 UTC