Swara Bhasker doubles down on backlash for remark on Jauhar scene in Padmaavat: ‘Wild that so many people are triggered’
Here's the latest update from the Bollywood world:
Bollywood star Swara Bhasker reignited a social media debate with her comments on Deepika Padukone's 2018 movie Padmaavat . The star, who spoke at the Woman Life Freedom talk at the India International Centre in Delhi on August 31, spoke against the Jauhar scene in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie. After her comments sparked backlash, the star reacted on her X account.
Adding to this, Swara Bhasker has responded to the backlash for her comments. Swara's response Taking to X, Swara wrote a note which read, “It is WILD that so many people are triggered (women included) by the basic idea that rape survivors have a right to life after rape!"
Meanwhile, Speaking at the event, Swara made a controversial statement about the Jauhar sequence shown towards the end of the movie and shared that it could send the wrong message to rape survivors. She shared, "I was watching it, and I thought that if God forbid, I was a rape survivor, what is this movie telling me? I would feel like a coward that I didn’t commit suicide to save my honour. Is that what you want to tell in a society like ours where I feel like anyway there is a rape epidemic. Is this what we want to tell our survivors that they don’t deserve to live, that if you actually would have be a honourable and brave women, you would have killed yourself. Are we saying that rape is end of a woman’s life? This scene was so problematic."
Notably, She added, "Then there was this one shot, which made me so mad that I shouted 'chii' loudly, there is a close-up of a pregnant woman's belly performing jauhar. So you are telling me that fetus, which might be a female, doesn’t deserve to be born because she might be raped by a Muslim ruler. I was so mad. I waited for five days to check if I still feel like that, and after five days, I wrote a letter." She was referring to the open letter she wrote to Sanjay Leela Bhansali after Padmawat's rollout in 2018.
As per the latest buzz, In Padmaavat, the Jauhar sequence comes towards the climax after Alauddin Khilji's forces defeat the Rajputs and breach the fort of Chittor. Deepika Padukone's Rani Padmavati leads the women of the fort into Jauhar, portrayed in the movie as a collective act of self-immolation to avoid capture. The sequence follows the death of Shahid Kapoor 's Maharawal Ratan Singh and Khilji's eventual victory over Chittor.
In further updates, Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali , Padmaavat is a 2018 Hindi epic period drama starring Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Sultan Alauddin Khilji.
On top of that, Santanu Das is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with over 5 years of experience, writing on films, pop culture and movie festivals. He has a keen interest in writing about South Asian independent films and has covered several movie festivals, including Sundance and CPH: Docx. He also brings a sharp perspective to the monthly column called The Fault in Our Stars, where he writes about a recent movie/series and what stops the ‘good’ from becoming ‘great’. A gold medalist from Banaras Hindu University, Santanu completed his postgraduate studies in English from Jadavpur University. He is also a Rotten Tomatoes-certified movie critic. When not watching films or in conversation with celebrities, Santanu can be found reading a book. Some of his favourite films are Aparajito, Ponyo and The Double Life of Veronique. His favourite books include The Corrections, The God of Small Things and A Room of One's Own. Santanu continues to write passionately about films and star culture. He brings a relatable, as well as critically informed, lens to entertainment and culture for a wide audience. Find him on LinkedIn: santanudasfilm Instagram: @santupecha Read More
Source: Hindustan Times