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Padukone plays Padmini, the legendary queen who committed “jauhar,” the medieval Rajput practice in which female royals walked into funeral fires to embrace death over the dishonour of being taken captive.

“Padmavati” has been in trouble since the beginning of the year, with fringe groups in the western state of Rajasthan attacking the film’s set, threatening to burn down theatres that show it and even physically attacking Bhansali in January.

Photo by Rafiq Maqbool / AP

Most of the anger appears to stem from allegations that Bhansali filmed a romantic dream sequence between the protagonists, which Bhansali has denied.

Earlier this month, the head of the Rajput Karni Sena in Rajasthan said Padukone should have her nose cut — a symbol of public humiliation — for being part of a film that allegedly insulted the famed queen.

India’s 1.3 billion-strong democracy is the largest in the world and has made great economic strides, but its politics are held hostage by a complex mix of religion and caste. Books and movies have been banned or received threats of violence because they either offend one religious or caste group, or are deemed offensive to Indian culture in general.

Photo by Rafiq Maqbool / AP

Hollywood movies are routinely scrubbed of sex scenes, and India’s film censor board rejected “Fifty Shades of Grey.” “The Da Vinci Code” was banned in Goa state, which has a large Christian population.

In 2014, the publishing house Penguin India pulled from shelves and destroyed all copies of American historian Wendy Doniger’s “The Hindus: An Alternative History” after a Hindu right-wing group protested, mainly because they said the book described Hindu mythological texts as fictional.

Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” has been banned since 1998, since many Muslims consider it blasphemous. The Indian-born Rushdie was forced to cancel a 2012 appearance at the Jaipur Literary Festival amid protests and threats by prominent Muslim clerics.