Same-sex passion between rulers and their courtiers had already been filmed in Kamal Amrohi’s Razia Sultan (1983), one of four movies directed by the aesthete. In the absence of an actual on-screen encounter between Khilji and his object of desire, it will have to do. The rumours mills have declared that Padmavati will include a song between Khilji (Ranveer Singh) and Kafur (Jim Sarbh). Khilji has been described by some disputed accounts as bisexual, and Kafur as one of his lovers. There’s a story doing the rounds, possibly apocryphal but delicious if true, that the December 1 release based on the mythical passion of fourteenth-century ruler Alauddin Khliji for Padmini, the queen of Chittor, will feature a song between Khilji and his general and chief ear-bender Malik Kafur. News from the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s beleagured historical Padmavati never fails to ignite the imagination.

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Altunia and razia sultan