Swara Bhasker turns off comments on her Janmashtami post amid Padmaavat remark row

Swara Bhasker. Pic via X

Bollywood actress Swara Bhasker has found herself in the middle of a controversy after her recent remarks about Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 2018 film Padmaavat. The actress recently shared her views on one of the scenes in the film, which did not sit well with many. Amid the backlash, the actress shared a Happy Janmashtami post on social media, but made sure to turn off the comments on the same.

Swara Bhasker's Janmashtami post

Swara took to Instagram to share a painting depicting Vasudeva carrying infant Lord Krishna across the Yamuna River, while the Sheshnag is seen shielding the divine child from the storm. In the caption, she wrote, "Happy Janmashtami!" accompanied by folded-hands and a blue-heart emoji.

However, the comments on her post were restricted, with the message, "Only some accounts can reply," being displayed. This comes amid the backlash she has recently been facing over her remarks about the Jauhar scene in Padmaavat.

Swara's statements spark backlash

The backlash was sparked over Swara's remarks about the Jauhar sequence in Padmaavat. The actress questioned what message the scene conveyed to rape survivors. In videos going viral on social media, Swara Bhasker is heard saying, "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'."

She added, "Is that what you want to tell in a society like ours where I feel that anyways there's a rape epidemic? Is this what you want to tell our survivors that you didn't deserve to live?" She later clarified that she was not calling Rani Padmavati or the women who performed Jauhar "cowards", claiming her remarks had been wrongly translated and circulated.

Swara went on to say that the film had many things that were "just so problematic". She even recalled shouting "chhi" after the scene depicted a pregnant woman also performing Jauhar. Notably, after watching the film in 2018, she had even written an open letter to filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, explaining why the Jauhar sequence had deeply troubled her.