Swara Bhaskar’s past remarks about the jauhar sequence in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2018 period drama ‘Padmaavat’ have resurfaced after the actor recently reiterated her criticism of the practice depicted in the film. Swara had earlier objected to the climax, saying it made her feel “reduced to her vagina” as a woman. The sequence shows Deepika Padukone’s Rani Padmini leading hundreds of Rajput women into self-immolation to avoid capture by Alauddin Khilji, played by Ranveer Singh.Shriya Pilgaonkar has now weighed in on the larger debate, stressing the importance of understanding historical events within the cultural context of their time rather than judging them solely through a contemporary lens.
Shriya Pilgaonkar says it is ‘easy to judge another time’
Speaking to Filmgyan, Shriya said that people living in the present should be cautious about imposing today’s values and perspectives on people from vastly different historical periods.“I feel generally, it’s very easy for us, in today’s context, to judge another context of another time. We can’t sit in 2026 and judge what people felt and what their values and what their pressures were in the cultural context 1000 to 2000 years ago. Every culture evolves with time, circumstances, situations, and the human condition. I don’t think it’s fair to assume the mindset,” she said.Shriya also argued that a healthy discussion requires people to remain open to changing their views when presented with new information or another perspective.“I don’t think any discourse really goes like that. The true sign of a healthy conversation is how open you are to change your mind if I present you with new information, and vice-versa. How fair it’s to judge a person from another time, we should decipher it on their own,” she added.
Shriya stresses the importance of context and nuance
The actor acknowledged the importance of critical thinking but said it should go hand in hand with an understanding of the historical and cultural framework surrounding an event.She said, “We’re too busy judging people without really understanding the cultural context. At times, we hold a lot of arrogance about what we know, but it’s important for us to understand that if we talk about anything, do we conduct in-depth research into it and try to understand somebody else’s point of view? Or are we too busy to give only our point of view?”Shriya also pointed to the challenges of having nuanced conversations on social media, where disagreements can quickly become confrontational.“Unfortunately, social media is not a very safe place to have open conversations because we just charge at each other. So, you don’t feel like going deep into it. People just want each other to agree with them. The attitude is, ‘If you don’t agree with me, then I’d rather have you not say anything,’” she said.
What did Swara Bhaskar say about ‘Padmaavat’?
Following the release of ‘Padmaavat’, Swara had penned an open letter to Bhansali expressing her discomfort with the film’s depiction of jauhar. She recently revisited her concerns during an event hosted by the India International Centre in Delhi.Speaking about the sequence, Swara said, “I’m watching this, these 800 women committing jauhar, and I was like, yaar, 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. Is that what you want to tell in a society like ours, where I feel like there’s anyway a rape epidemic? Is this what we want to tell our survivors, that you didn’t deserve to live? That if you actually had been honourable and brave women, you would have killed yourself. Are we saying that rape is the end of a woman’s life?”She also recalled being particularly disturbed by a shot showing a pregnant woman entering the fire.“And then there was that one shot; it made me so mad. I was like, chhiii, in the audience loudly. There is a close-up of a pregnant woman’s belly. And she is going (into the fire), 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? And then I came out, and I was like, this is terrible. And normally, people think that I do these things out of rage. But I waited for five days. And I was like, let me check if I still feel like this. And then at the end of five days, I wrote this letter,” she added.
‘Padmaavat’ co-writer Prakash Kapadia responds
‘Padmaavat’ co-writer Prakash Kapadia also responded to Swara’s recent comments. Speaking to Hindustan Times, he said the film’s depiction was based on the filmmakers’ research and historical accounts.“We made the film according to our research, and what is written in history books. Every person interprets the film differently. What we showed, including the jauhar scene, was the reality of those times; it cannot be changed now. The situation was that of ‘do or die,’” Kapadia said.Kapadia also recalled the protests and objections that surrounded the film even before its release.“With Padmaavat, people had raised objections even before watching the film and had protested on the streets. The same conversation is continuing years later, so what can I say? Let people say what they want to,” he added.
Shriya Pilgaonkar’s upcoming projects
Shriya, who recently reprised her role as Sweety in Gurmeet Singh’s ‘Mirzapur: The Movie’, will next be seen in Priyadarshan’s crime thriller ‘Haiwaan’. The film is scheduled to release in theatres on September 11.