Despite finally managing to secure a release, waters of controversy surrounding Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavati have not ebbed away. Walk into any movie theatre screening the film and you’ll find cops first and popcorn later. The debates still rage on and opinions still get spewed, now more than ever since nobody’s going in blind anymore. We’ve all seen Padmaavat and we all have an opinion that we’ll shout from the rooftops, or rather our social media handles.
One such opinion was expressed by actress Swara Bhasker, who penned a not-so-brief letter to Bhansali, slamming him for ‘glorification of Jauhar’.
Her letter attracted both support and criticism, a snub from actress Suchitra Krishnamoorthi and even a resounding clapback from the writers of Ram Leela, who had their very own ‘letter’ for Swara to ponder over.
If Bhansali and the cast of Padmaavat were conspicuous by their lack of comments on this whole issue, don’t fret. Padmaavat’s Maharawal Ratan Singh, Shahid Kapoor has finally acknowledged Swara’s letter.
According to Navbharat Times, Shahid said,
“Yes, I have come to know that Swara has written a letter, but honestly, I have not yet read it yet, the letter is quite long and we are all really busy. I do not know what her issue is, maybe whatever issue she has is with Sanjay Sir.”
That being said, Shahid expressed that the ‘open letter’ felt somewhat “awkward” and that probably has to do with it not being in lieu with Bollywood’s solidarity for the film.
“I would say that this time is not for such things, Padmaavat has been representing the whole film industry. It is also representing freedom of expression and freedom of speech. It has been really difficult to make this film reach the audience.”
Fair enough? Or not?
For those supporting the movie, it has been open season on Swara ever since she shared the letter. And the actress too has been swift in her response to the haters.
Now that one of the core people associated with the movie has made their opinion known, it should be interesting to see what the fearless Swara has to to say!