Hindu group demands beheading of film star

NEW YORK - The Associated Press

A member of India’s Hindu nationalist ruling party has offered a 100 million rupee ($1.5 million) reward to anyone who beheads the lead actress and the director of the yet-to-be released Bollywood film "Padmavati" over its alleged handling of the relationship between a Hindu queen and a Muslim ruler.

Suraj Pal Amu, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader from the northern state of Haryana, offered the bounty against actress Deepika Padukone and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali on Nov. 19. The film’s producers postponed the release of the film, which was set to be in theaters Dec. 1.

"Padmavati" is based on a 16th century Sufi epic poem, "Padmavat," a fictional account of a Rajput queen who chose to kill herself rather than be captured by the Muslim sultan of Delhi.