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Soon after Swara Bhasker's open letter to director Sanjay Leela Bhansali criticising him for "thoughtlessly glorifying" sati and jauhar practices in his latest release "Padmaavat" went viral, the Bollywood actor got trolled on Twitter.
The 29-year-old actor wrote a blistering open letter to Bhansali, in which she condemned the filmmaker for presenting the criminalised archaic customs in a "breathtakingly shot" manner.
Bhasker said Bhansali, whom she respects and has worked for in "Guzaarish", had set a dangerous precedent in questioning the laws of the land.
Bhasker had written: "I felt reduced to a vagina only" where she accused Bhansali of glorifying 'Jauhar' and 'Sati pratha'.
But many, including former actress Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, also took to Twitter to express their opinion. Krishnamoorthi said it's funny that an actor who plays an "erotic dancer/ prostitute" referring to Bhasker's role in Anaarkali of Arrah, feels like a vagina after watching Bhansali's magnum-opus glorifying the acts of a Rajput queen.
"Funny that an actress who can play an erotic dancer/ prostitute with such elan should feel like a vagina after watching a story of a pious queen . What standards are these ...tch tch," she wrote.
However, Bhasker was quick to hit back at Suchita for her comment. She said what's actually funny is that "people cannot get over the fact that a woman said vagina" and added that in an article of over 2440 words, people only remember the vagina part.
"Funny that people cannot get over the fact that a woman said Vagina! Funny that in a 2440 word article making fairly comprehensible arguments they only remember the word Vagina!!! So... Vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina...............vagina vagina VAGINA!!!!!," she wrote.
In the open letter Bhasker had written: "I felt like all the 'minor' achievements that women and women's movements have made over the years - like the right to vote, the right to own property, the right to education, equal pay for equal work, maternity leave, the Vishakha judgment, the right to adopt children... All of it was pointless; because we were back to basics".
She explained the parallels between the two crimes, saying the depiction of the Sati/Jauhar would have been justified had the director condoned the victim-blaming mindset, which infests the country, in Deepika Padukone-led period drama.
"You will say that you put out a disclaimer at the beginning of the film claiming that the film did not support Sati or Jauhar.
"Sure sir, but you followed that up with a two-hour-45- minute-long paean to Rajput honour, and the bravery of honourable Rajput women who chose happily to sacrifice their lives in raging flames, than to be touched by enemy men who were not their husbands but were incidentally Muslim," Bhasker said, also calling out the director for painting the Muslim ruler Khilji (Ranveer Singh) as a "monster".
The actor, who watched the film first-day, first-show, said she had defended Bhansali's freedom of expression during the protests by various groups and political leaders, who accused him of "distorting historical facts".
She had questioned the "uncomfortable" climax scene where Rani Padmavati, portrayed by Deepika Padukone, self-immolates herself along with a group of other women after attackers barge into their kingdom after winning over their men, albeit unethically.
She had concluded the letter with addressing Bhansali and writing, "Your cinema particularly is inspiring, evocative and powerful. It can move audiences to emotional highs and lows. It can influence thinking and that, sir, is why you must be responsible as to what it is you are doing and saying in your film".
She had signed off her letter as "Swara Bhaskar, Desirous of Life".
(With agency inputs)
