Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi has come out in support of Sanjay Leela Bhansali starrer Padmavati and urged the Industry to boycott the International Film Festival of India to be held in Goa.

Calling the situation ‘cultural annihilation, Shabana Azmi criticised the Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani for her silence on the issue. Shabana Azmi tweeted, "Smriti Irani is preparing IFFI dats possible only bcoz the Indian Film Industry brings such acclaim to it but keeps quiet about Padmavati!"

She put our a series of Tweets on the Padmavati issue and added, "The entire film industry should boycott IFFI in protest against the threats to @deepikapadukone SLB and #Padmavati"

"This is exactly like HKL Bhagat and Congress celebrating IFFI in Delhi after the murder of Safdar Hashmi in 1989.Cultural Annihilation", she added.