Swara Bhaskar has found herself at the centre of controversy after speaking about Deepika Padukone's jauhar scene in Padmaavat. The actor called the sequence problematic, leading to backlash. Shriya Pilgaonkar recently reacted to Swara Bhaskar's statement that the women who performed jauhar had given in to a "cowardly" act.
Shriya Pilgaonkar told Filmygyan, "In 2026, we cannot judge what people living within a 100, 200 or 500-year-old cultural context were thinking, what their values were, what they wanted to do, or the pressures they faced. Every culture evolves with time, circumstances, situations, and human conditions. I don't think it's fair to assume a mindset. I don't believe in a generic discussion or a generic judgement about a time that was different."
What Did Swara Bhaskar Say?
Swara Bhasker recently shared that she wrote a letter to Sanjay Leela Bhansali after Padmaavat was released. She spoke about the letter during an event in New Delhi and discussed her concerns about the film and its portrayal of Jauhar.
She 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. Is that what you want to tell women in a society like ours where I feel like there's any way a rape epidemic. Is that what we want to tell our survivors that you don't deserve to live? That if you had actually been brave and honourable women, you would have killed yourself? Are we saying that rape is the end of a woman's life?"
“There was like one shot that made me so mad. I was like, 'Chhee!' There is a close-up of a pregnant woman's belly and she's going... So, 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'.”
In the 2018 film Padmaavat, Deepika played Rani Padmavati, while Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh played key roles.
ALSO READ | "Is Rape End Of A Woman's Life?" Swara Bhasker Revisits Padmaavat Open Letter On Jauhar To Bhansali
