Archive · 1 Sep 2026
Swara Bhasker Revisits Padmaavat Jauhar Criticism Amid Online Backlash
Swara Bhasker talked again about a scene in the movie Padmaavat.
The scene shows Rani Padmavati and hundreds of women entering a fire during a war.
This act is called jauhar.
Swara said the scene could make rape survivors feel that they should have died instead of continuing to live.
She also disliked a shot showing a pregnant woman going toward the fire.
In 2018, she wrote a letter criticizing the movie after waiting five days to think about her response.
Some critics said she was disrespecting Rajput women and judging an old wartime practice by modern standards.
Swara replied that rape survivors have a right to live after rape.
Swara Bhasker renewed her criticism of Padmaavat’s climactic jauhar sequence at a Delhi event.
She questioned whether the scene could make rape survivors feel they should have died to preserve their honour.
Bhasker said a close-up of a pregnant woman approaching the pyre was especially disturbing.
She said she waited five days before writing her 2018 open letter to director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Her remarks prompted online criticism, with opponents accusing her of disrespecting Rajput women and overlooking the wartime context of jauhar.
- Who
- Actor Swara Bhasker, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and critics of Bhasker’s comments.
- What
- Bhasker revisited and defended her criticism of Padmaavat’s jauhar scene and her 2018 open letter.
- When
- She spoke at a Delhi event on August 31, 2026, according to one report; her open letter was published in 2018.
- Where
- The event was held at the India International Centre in New Delhi, and the letter was published by The Wire.
- Why
- Bhasker said the scene could imply that rape survivors should have died to preserve their honour, while critics said it represented a historical wartime choice that should be understood in context.
Bhasker’s Criticism
Critics’ Historical Defence
Message to survivors
Bhasker’s Criticism
Bhasker argued that depicting women choosing death to protect their honour could make rape survivors feel they did not deserve to live or had failed to be brave.
Critics’ Historical Defence
Critics said the film does not instruct contemporary rape survivors to die and that Bhasker was applying a modern interpretation to a historical story.
Meaning of jauhar
Bhasker’s Criticism
Bhasker objected to what she viewed as the glorification of jauhar and sati, emphasizing that women have the right to live after rape or the death of their husbands.
Critics’ Historical Defence
Critics described jauhar as a wartime decision during sieges intended to avoid capture, enslavement, forced conversion, and sexual violence.
Depiction of Rajput women
Bhasker’s Criticism
Bhasker said the sequence, especially the image of a pregnant woman, was problematic because it appeared to suggest that potential future victims should not be born.
Critics’ Historical Defence
Social-media critics accused her of insulting Rajput women and disregarding the circumstances and values associated with the historical tradition of jauhar.
- Film
- Padmaavat, also referred to as Padmavat in some reports
- Director
- Sanjay Leela Bhansali
- Scene discussed
- A sequence depicting around 800 women committing jauhar
- Central question
- Whether rape should be viewed as the end of a woman’s life
- Specific image criticized
- A pregnant woman shown approaching the funeral pyre
- Original open letter
- Written and published in 2018 on The Wire
- Bhasker’s response
- She called the backlash “wild” and said rape survivors have a right to life after rape
Sources
Swara Bhasker 2018 open letter to Sanjay Leela Bhansali: Felt 'reduced to vagina' after watching Padmaavat
"Is Rape End Of A Woman's Life?" Swara Bhasker Revisits Padmaavat Open Letter On Jauhar To Bhansali
'So Many People Are Triggered...': Swara Bhasker Hits Back At Trolls Over 'Problematic' Padmaavat Jauhar Scene Remark
Swara Bhasker REACTS After Padmaavat Jauhar Scene Remark Faces Criticism: Wild So Many People Are Triggered
Swara Bhaskar criticises Jauhar scene of Padmavat during IIC event
'Rape Survivors Have A Right To Life': Swara Bhasker Reacts To 'Wild' Backlash Over Padmaavat Remark
Swara Bhasker reacts to criticism over Padmaavat Jauhar scene remark: ‘Rape survivors have a right to life’
