Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor-starrer Bawaal has been at the eye of the storm, suffering criticism about the way it has used the tragedy of the Holocaust as a plot device to establish a romantic arc between the leads.Now, the Jewish human rights body Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) has registered a strong objection to the Nitesh Tiwari-directed film, criticising both the film and the director for its banal trivialisation of the suffering and systematic murder of millions of victims of the Nazi Holocaust and demanding its removal from Amazons Prime Video OTT platform.VARUN DHAWAN – JANHVI KAPOOR: BAWAAL TRAILER ARRIVES… Team #Bawaal – starring #VarunDhawan and #JanhviKapoor – unveils #BawaalTrailer… Premieres 21 July 2023 on #AmazonPrimeVideo [@primevideoin].🔗: https://t.co/9T1QVQycxZ#Bawaal reunites producer #SajidNadiadwala and… pic.twitter.com/fYVLiL6SXt— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) July 9, 2023Bawaal has received plenty of criticism from both Indian audiences and foreign critics for several scenes and dialogues. In one scene, Janhvi Kapoors character Nisha says, “Were all a little like Hitler, arent we” when discussing how human beings are greedy and want other peoples possessions. In another, Nisha visits the Auschwitz concentration camp – one of the largest extermination camps used by the Nazis to murder Jews – and says, “Every relationship goes through their Auschwitz.”A particularly controversial scene involves the lead couple visiting a gas chamber in the concentration camp, and a dream-like sequence shows them inside the chambers, in striped uniforms, with Nisha struggling to breathe. The Guardians Leaf Arbuthnot, in her one-star view of the film, said that “the scene is so mind-bogglingly vapid its hard to watch”.SWC Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action, Rabbi Abraham Cooper said, “Auschwitz is not a metaphor. It is the quintessential example of Mans capacity for Evil. By having the protagonist in this movie declare that Every relationship goes through their Auschwitz, [Director] Nitesh Tiwari, trivializes and demeans the memory of 6 million murdered Jews and millions of others who suffered at the hands of Hitlers genocidal regime.“If the filmmakers goal was to gain PR for their movie by reportedly filming a fantasy sequence at the Nazi death camp, he has succeeded. Amazon Prime should stop monetising Bawaal by immediately removing this banal trivialisation of the suffering and systematic murder of millions of victims of the Nazi Holocaust.”Varun, Nitesh defend Bawaal amid insensitivity criticismAmid all the criticism, Bawaal actor Varun Dhawan and director Nitish Tiwari have come out in support of the film.Dhawan, speaking to the media, said, “Im not new to criticism. My films Judwaa, Main Tera Hero, and ABCD2, have been criticized which is totally cool. I respect the criticism. What I dont understand like how Sir [Nitesh Tiwari] said that its a context and the protagonist is from Lucknow and its showing that the character, which is Ajju Bhaiya, is initially a tone-deaf character.“This is how it has been shown and its not showing the character as a hero but as a negative. Thats why all the praise is coming for the character that a hero for the first time gets to do a negative character. So the character is supposed to be negative. So the way Nisha will explain [to] him in a way that he should understand.“Secondly, I respect everyones opinions and everyone has a right to have an opinion. Some people got triggered and sensitive about this, but I dont understand where that sensitivity or the trigger goes when they watch an English film. They are allowed to do and show everything and you will find that in a correct way.”#VarunDhawan on some people criticizing auschwitz scene in the movie bawaal, and i absolutely loved how he said this 👏 (couldnt stop myself from posting this) 1/2 pic.twitter.com/PamNTF7nCp— Bhoomika | Ajju era (@dhawansgirl) July 25, 2023Nitesh Tiwari, in an interview with Pinkvilla, said, “I am a bit disappointed with the way some people have comprehended it. That was never the intention. It would never be my intention to be insensitive in any which way… Dont we see Ajju and Nisha getting completely troubled and moved by what they see in Auschwitz They do. They see the prisoners, they see how they were stacked, they see how they were exterminated. Are they being insensitive about it No. They are moved to tears.“You can question the creative process, you can question the creatives, but please do not question the intent. The moment you start questioning the intent, it becomes hurtful. There were so many good messages which are there in the movie. You take out one or two odd incidents, and run down the whole film.”
