'Bawaal' Director Nitesh Tiwari Reacts To Criticism Around Auschwitz Scenes In Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Dhawan Film
'Bawaal' director Nitesh Tiwari has finally responded to the criticism around the film. The film has been criticised for dialogues and scenes which in a way trivialize the history of WWII and the Holocaust.
New Delhi: 'Bawaal' director Nitesh Tiwari has finally responded to the criticism around the film. The film has been criticised for dialogues and scenes which in a way trivialize the history of WWII and the Holocaust. Starring Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor in the lead, as a married couple on the brink of divorce, the film revolves around them finding a common ground for their marriage to hold as they travel across WWII landmark sites across Europe. Recently, in an interaction with Pinkvilla, Tiwari clarified his intentions about the film.
Tiwari went on the explain the controversial scenes set in Auschwitz concentration camp. Tiwari told Pinkvilla, "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. It puts a question on your credibility, which has taken so many years of hard work to build. That is something that I think should be avoided. I’m all for criticism, but it should be a conversation.” Taking about his career, the filmmaker said, “I have faced criticism on all my movies. Even Dangal. Some people called it patriarchal, and asked how (Aamir Khan’s character) could force his opinion on the girls. On Chhichhore, some people called it insensitive. Can you believe it?”
About the Asuchwitz scenes, he said, "There are so many good messages which are there in the movie. You take out one or two odd incidents, and run down the whole film. That means you do not believe in any of those strong messages which the film stood for.” He said that the Auschwitz scenes have ‘predominantly’ been understood the way he wanted. “However, 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… Don’t 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.”
The star cast of the film, Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Dhawan have also defended the film in varying capacities. While Varun asked why the same scrutiny was not applied to films not in the Hindi language, Janhvi shared that she spoke with an Israeli professor whose relatives were killed during the Holocuast, and shared that the film moved him.