In response to the ongoing controversy surrounding to the movie 'Padmavati', the Indian Film and TV Directors Association (IFTDA) held a press conference to lead support to the movie and its director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. While addressing the media on the row, Ashoke Pandit, President of the Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association, said that the whole creative fraternity is hurt by these incidents and we don't deserve this kind of treatment.

Ashok Pandit also added in his statement “The reason for this press conference is because we the creative fraternity are hurt. We have been abused, we have been accused and we have been treated like gangsters. We are film-makers, we are creative people and we don't deserve to be treated like that. Every now and then we see our directors getting heckled, films are not allowed to get released."

All the organisations are here today, because we think it is important today to stand together and speak together that this is not what we are here for. And we don't deserve this kind of treatment. All the abuses, all the bad words that have been said for Bhansali are not only for him, but to all the people who are in the creative fraternity.

Reacting to the same, Sudhir Mishra, director of critically acclaimed movies like 'Traffic Signal' noted that he cannot understand why these extra-constitutional bodies are treating Bhansali like a hoodlum. "The matter is absurd, nobody has seen the movie. Director, producer, who is one established person, has already said that I have not done what you are accusing me of. Then I do not understand why these extra-constitutional bodies are treating Bhansali like a petty hoodlum," noted Mishra.

The period drama, starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, has been facing protests from various communal groups, including Shree Rajput Karni Sena, for allegedly tampering with historical facts. The movie is slated to hit the theatres on December 1