A senior Indian politician has offered a £1million 'reward' for a Bollywood actress to be BEHEADED.
Suraj Pal Amu is angry 31-year-old actress Deepika Padukone - one of Bollywood’s highest paid stars - has starred in a film that explores the relationship between a Hindu queen and Muslim conquerer.
Amu, a senior member of the country's ruling party, has demanded her head in exchange for a 100million-rupee ($1.54 million) bounty.
Other militants meanwhile have threatened Ms Padukone with having her nose cut off.
The actress is yet to publicly comment on the 'threat' - but has retweeted a comment by a friend on Twitter that said: "I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage. Deepika you are one of the strongest women I know."
The movie Padmavati - based on a legendary poem - has had its December 1 release delayed by producers due to the furore.
The film explores the relationship of a Hindu queen from the Rajput warrior clan and Muslim ruler Alauddin Khilji.
Hardline Hindu groups and other leading politicians have accused Padukone and the movie’s director of ‘distorting history’ by showing her character as the Muslim's "lover".
It has already been banned in two states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party - whose leader Narendra Modi is Prime Minister.
The BJP is today trying to distance itself from Mr Amu demands.
Anil Jain, head of the BJP in Haryana, Northern India, said: "We will not tolerate any violent remarks from our party members, but we also want the director to respect India’s history."
Today it ordered Amu to publicly apologise for the public offer of a reward for her head - and asked him to explain why he made the offer.
Haryana police did not respond to requests for comment.
Officials at the Ministry for Information and Broadcasting said Hindu groups and some members of the ruling party had spread rumours about the film, which no members of the public and government had yet seen.
Keshav Prasad Maurya, deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, said he would not permit
the movie's release unless scenes showing the queen in a "poor light" were deleted.
"How can a Muslim aggressor be portrayed as the real hero and the Hindu king and queen as victims? This is factually
incorrect," said Maurya.
Indian films that touch upon the historical relationships of Hindus, India's majority religion, and Muslim leaders are often controversial.
The head of the Central Board of Film Certification, Anurag Srivastava, said Padmavati's producers had applied on November 10 to release the film, but the application was denied because producers did not clarify whether the film was based on fact or fiction.
Censorship of films can be highly charged. The government in August dismissed CBFC's chairman after criticism from Bollywood film-makers angered by attempts to sanitise art and popular culture.
Viacom 18 - a joint venture between Viacom Inc and Reliance Industries' Network 18 - is the studio behind the film, which analysts estimate cost some $23 million.
A senior police official in Mumbai said they had offered increased security to Padukone and Bhansali.