Bollywood actress Swara Bhasker recently faced heavy backlash online after calling the Jauhar sequence in Deepika Padukone-starrer Padmaavat “problematic.” Criticising the scene in which women commit Jauhar, Swara questioned whether rape should be considered the end of a woman’s life. Now, hitting back at the criticism, Swara shared an Instagram Story saying it is “wild” that so many people, including women, were triggered by her statement.
Swara shared a photo on her Instagram Story with the caption, “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! (sic)”
What Did Swara Bhasker Say?
Nearly eight years after writing an open letter to director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Swara has once again sparked a debate around Padmaavat. Speaking at a recent event in Delhi, the actress recalled watching the film’s Jauhar sequence featuring around 800 women and said, “I’m watching this and all of these 800 women committing Jauhar... God forbid if 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’.”
Swara further recalled a particular shot from the film that left her “so mad” and made her react with “chi,” referring to the scene involving a pregnant woman committing Jauhar. Questioning the message conveyed by the sequence, she asked, “So, you are saying that a fetus that might be a female does not deserve to be born because she might be raped by a Muslim ruler?”
The actress said she waited for five days to see whether she still felt the same way about the scene before writing her open letter. Swara said the central point of her letter was that “Women are more than their private parts.”
Swara’s comments sparked a wave of criticism on social media, with several users accusing the actress of disrespecting the historical tradition of Jauhar and the women associated with it. One user criticised her statement, writing, “She has shown complete disrespect toward all Hindu women with this statement. Specifically, she is defaming the dignity and honor of Rajput women.”
