Ratansen invited the emperor to his palace, where Alauddin managed to steal a glimpse of the bewitching Padmavati. The Muslim authors of such works did away with Sufi and Rajput ethos, presenting Alauddin as a misguided conqueror who repented his actions later. At the shooting stage itself, the film’s crew has already suffered two attacks — first, reportedly by the Rajput Karni Sena in Jaipur and more recently, arson on the film set in Kolhapur. Tod’s story was accepted as history by English educated nationalists, particularly in Bengal. The poem Padmavat, written in Awadhi around 1540 by the Sufi poet, Malik Muhammed Jayasi, mentions Padmavati for the first time. Intending to possess her, Alauddin imprisoned Ratansen through treachery. The political dimension in Padmavat, which was otherwise a typical Sufi romantic [...]