'Is She Dumb? Shame On You': Swara Bhasker SLAMMED For Calling Padmaavat Jauhar Scene 'Coward' & 'Problematic'- VIDEO

Actress Swara Bhasker has reignited the Padmaavat controversy years after she wrote an open letter to director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, criticising what she described as the glorification of jauhar in the film. The sequence appears towards the conclusion, after Alauddin Khilji’s forces defeat the Rajputs. The scene depicts Rani Padmavati and the women of Chittor choosing mass self-immolation rather than facing capture.

Swara Bhasker Reignites Padmaavat Jauhar Row

Bhasker criticised the sequence, arguing that its depiction could send a troubling message to rape survivors by suggesting that death is preferable to surviving sexual violence. She questioned whether 'rape is the end of a woman’s life' and described several aspects of the film as 'problematic.'

Check out the video:

Netizens React

Social media users were quick to criticise Bhasker over her remarks, with some calling her a “complete idiot” and expressing disbelief at her comments.

“This lady is utterly shameless to the core. She needs to be isolated and put into an asylum,” one user wrote.

“Complete idiot,” another commented, while a third reacted, “Wow. This is unbelievable.”

Another user directly addressed Bhasker, writing, “Oh @ReallySwara, the dumb person you are.”

What Did Swara Bhasker Say?

At a recent event in Delhi, Swara said, "I'm watching this and it shows all these 800 women committing jauhar, which is the story. Watching it I was thinking that 'God forbid, I was a rape survivor; what is this film telling me? I would feel like a coward. That I didn't kill myself to save my 'honour'."

Further, Swara questioned whether this was the message people wanted to send to women in a society where rape was already an epidemic. She questioned whether survivors were being told that they did not deserve to live, or that if they had truly been brave and honourable women, they would have killed themselves. She further questioned whether people were suggesting that rape marked the end of a woman’s life.

'This Is Terrible'

Swara shared that there was one particular shot that made her extremely angry, prompting her to exclaim, 'Chhee!' She described a close-up of a pregnant woman’s belly, followed by the woman leaving.

"You're saying that a foetus that might be female doesn't deserve to be born because she might be raped by a Muslim ruler? I was so mad and then I came out and I was like, 'This is terrible'," she recounted.

In the 2018 letter, Swara Bhasker wrote that she "felt reduced to a vagina" after watching Padmaavat.