Actor says her comments on the Jauhar scene were mistranslated, argues films must not suggest that a rape survivor’s life is less valuable than her ‘honour’
Actor Swara Bhasker has clarified her controversial remarks about the Jauhar sequence in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat, saying her comments were misrepresented on social media. She stressed that she never called Rani Padmavati or the women who performed Jauhar “cowards”.
Bhasker addressed the controversy in a video posted on Instagram after a clip from her August 31 discussion at the India International Centre in Delhi went viral. She said her original comments were about how the film’s depiction could be perceived by a rape survivor, rather than an attack on the historical figures portrayed.
According to Bhasker, watching the film’s climax made her question whether such imagery could unintentionally convey that a woman who survives sexual violence has failed to protect her honour. She said she found that message deeply troubling in a society where sexual violence remains a serious concern.
She also questioned the depiction of a pregnant woman entering the Jauhar fire, arguing that cinema should not suggest that a woman’s purity or honour is more valuable than her life.
Bhasker invoked the Nirbhaya case while emphasising that survivors’ will to live should never be underestimated.
Her original remarks had triggered criticism, with detractors arguing that Jauhar should be viewed in its historical context rather than through the lens of cowardice.
The controversy has once again reopened debate over how historical violence, honour and women’s agency are represented in popular cinema.
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