The Israeli embassy has registered anguish over the 'poor' reference to the Holocaust in the recently released Hindi-film 'Bawaal'. The embassy said in a statement that it requests people who may not be fully aware of the horrors of the Holocaust to educate themselves about it. According to PTI, the film starring Varun Dhawan and Jahnvi Kapoor stirred controversy for using the Holocaust to tell a story of marital discord. The agency reported that a prominent Jewish group slammed the movie and called for its removal from the OTT platform. Reacting to the developments, the Israeli embassy and the Israel Ambassador to India Naor Gilon voiced concern over the reference to the Holocaust.
"The Israeli embassy is disturbed by the trivialization of the significance of the Holocaust in the recent movie 'Bawaal'. There was a poor choice in the utilization of some terminology in the movie, and though we assume no malice was intended, we urge everyone who may not be fully aware of the horrors of the Holocaust to educate themselves about it," the embassy tweeted on Friday.
It further said, "Our embassy is constantly working to propagate educational materials on this crucial subject, and we are open to engaging in conversations with all individuals to foster a better understanding of the universal lessons derived from the Holocaust."
Israeli envoy Naor Gilon also took to Twitter and said, "I did not and will not watch the film 'Bawaal' but from what I have read, there was a poor choice of terminology and symbolism. Trivialization of the Holocaust should disturb all."
"I urge those who don't know enough about the horrors of the Holocaust to educate themselves about it," he added.
Notably, "Bawaal" follows a high school history teacher Ajay Dixit (Dhawan) and his wife Nisha (Jahnvi Kapoor) as they go on a Europe tour where they visit prominent World War II sites, including Auschwitz and Anne Frank’s home in Amsterdam, PTI stated.
The film refers to Holocaust in several scenes. Directed by 'Dangal' fame director Nitesh Tiwari, the movie was released on Prime Video on July 21.
Earlier this week, the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, criticised the film in a statement for "outlandish abuse of the Nazi Holocaust as a plot device".
It said that the film features "scenes in which the protagonists enter a gas chamber in Auschwitz and are suffocated while wearing striped clothing", as per PTI.
"Hitler is used as a metaphor in the movie for human greed, with the main protagonist, saying to his wife: 'We're all a little like Hitler, aren't we'?" "Auschwitz is not a metaphor. It is a quintessential example of man's capacity for evil," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, SWC Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action, as quoted by PTI.
Cooper was further quoted as saying, "By having the protagonist in this movie declare that 'Every relationship goes through their Auschwitz', Nitesh Tiwari, trivialises and demeans the memory of 6 million murdered Jews and millions of others who suffered at the hands of Hitler's genocidal regime."
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