Padmaavat Jauhar Controversy: Swara Bhasker Says Remarks Were 'Wrongly Translated, Never Said Rani Padmavati Was Coward'

Hyderabad: Bollywood actor Swara Bhasker has clarified her remarks about the Jauhar sequence in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat after facing backlash on social media. The actor said her comments were being "wrongly and falsely translated" and stressed that she never called Rani Padmavati or the women who performed Jauhar "cowards". Swara addressed the controversy through a video shared on Instagram on Tuesday.

She explained that her comments were made on August 31 in New Delhi when she was asked about the open letter she had written to Bhansali after watching Padmaavat. "This morning, a clip of mine has been going viral on social media. It was from an event yesterday, where I was asked why I had sent an open letter to Sanjay Leela Bhansali after watching Padmaavat," Swara said.

She claimed that a part of her statement had been taken out of context and presented as though she had called Rani Padmavati and the other women in the palace cowards. "Main clearly kehna chahti hoon, maine aisa bilkul nahi kaha ki Rani Padmaavati kayar thi ya mahal ki baaki aurtein kayar thi," she said. Swara added that people were free to criticise or abuse her, but asked them to do so based on what she had actually said.

What did Swara Bhasker say about the Jauhar scene?

At the August 31 event, Swara had spoken about the climax of Padmaavat, particularly the depiction of Jauhar. Her criticism was centred on what she believed the sequence could communicate to rape survivors. "I was watching it, and I thought that if God forbid, I was a rape survivor, what is this film telling me? I would feel like a coward that I didn't die by suicide to save my honour," she had said.

Swara argued that the scene could be interpreted as suggesting that a woman's life becomes less valuable after sexual assault. She questioned whether films should send such a message in a society where sexual violence remains a serious concern. "Are we saying that rape is the end of a woman's life? This scene was so problematic," she said. In her clarification, Swara explained that she was speaking from the perspective of a hypothetical rape survivor. She said that while watching the climax, she imagined how such a survivor might feel if the film appeared to suggest that death was preferable to living after rape.

Swara invokes Nirbhaya

During her clarification, Swara also referred to the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case, commonly known as the Nirbhaya case. She said people should remember Nirbhaya's determination to survive and fight back. According to Swara, the will to live should never be underestimated, especially when discussing survivors of sexual violence.

The actor's latest clarification comes after her original comments sparked a debate online. While some users supported her criticism of the film's portrayal of Jauhar, others argued that her remarks were disrespectful to Rani Padmavati and the women associated with the historical practice. Swara has now maintained that the criticism directed at her was based on a misunderstanding of her words. Sharing her response on X, she wrote: "My video clip has gone viral - it's being wrongly and falsely translated! I absolutely did not say that Queen Padmavati or any sati was a coward. If you want to hurl abuses, then do so - but do it on the basis of my actual statement!!!," she wrote.

Padmaavat, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, was released in 2018. The period drama starred Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji.