‘Utterly shameless’: Ranvir Shorey slams Swara Bhasker over her Padmaavat Jauhar remark

A new storm of controversy over Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat has erupted on social media, following Swara Bhasker’s comments about Jauhar scene of the movie. The remarks from Swara have now invited a strong rebuke from the actor Ranvir Shorey, who accused her for unjust comparison of Jauhar to survivors of rape.

The controversy started after Swara discussed about the end of Padmaavat, depicting Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati who leads the women of Chittor in Jauhar. Swara questioned the message of the portrayal of this practice to women, especially those who are victims of sexual abuse.

Responding to a post by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi, Swara wrote on X: “You are missing the point Priyanka ji! The point is not about choice of the Jauhar committing women. They faced a tragedy and made a tough choice. The point is what are we choosing to glorify? That a woman’s chastity is more valuable than her life?? It’s a simple question. Does a rape survivor not deserve to live after rape???”

Priyanka Chaturvedi had argued that women who chose Jauhar were exercising agency when faced with the choice between death and sexual enslavement. She wrote: “If the choice was between death or becoming a sex slave for conquerors and a concubine in their harems, several women chose former. Some women may choose latter. However, they used their agency- whether one agrees or disagrees with can be debated but it was a choice. A choice that a woman made. Deal with it.”

Ranvir Shorey then entered the debate and strongly criticised Swara’s argument. In a post on X, he wrote: “I still don’t get it! Comparing Jauhar (suicide by fire in defiance of inevitable and endless rape, violence and even necrophilia!) to rape survivors? Where’s the connection? They’re two completely different sets! The only intention can be to malign one group of people while trying to whitewash the other! Utterly shameless!”

Swara has now reiterated that her statement never referred to Rani Padmavati or the women who performed Jauhar as “cowards”. Reacting to the viral video and the entire fallout, she has said that her comments were misinterpreted. Swara also clarified that her argument was only intended to question the glorification of Jauhar in cinema, and not to judge the women involved.

Meanwhile, the controversy has got a lot of attention due to Prakash Kapadia, writer of the film Padmaavat, who has defended Padmaavat’s portrayal of Jauhar, saying that it is historically accurate.

The controversy has revived the discussion surrounding Padmaavat and its representation of Jauhar in cinema, causing people to wonder whether the film represents history or glorifies an outdated practice.