As actor Swara Bhasker continues to face backlash for her remarks about the depiction of jauhar in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat (2018), the film’s co-writer Prakash Kapadia has come out in defence of the scene, citing deep research and historical accuracy.
“We made the film according to our research and what is written in history books,” says Kapadia, who co-wrote the film alongside Bhansali. He adds, “Every person interprets the film differently. What we showed including the jauhar scene was the reality of those times, it cannot be changed now. The situation was that of ‘do or die’. Woh log (the male warriors) kesariya kar ke utare thhe.”
In Rajput tradition, Kesariya refers to the men dressing in saffron (kesari) robes and marching into a battle to fight to the death when victory is impossible.
Reacting to Bhasker calling the portrayal “problematic”, Kapadia says that while he hasn’t been following Swara’s comments, the controversy feels unnecessary to him.
“It depends on the person’s mood, even if it’s a good film and you watch it with a bad state of mind you will find it bekaar. It’s also about intention; whether you are going as a viewer, or watching it to find something controversial, or to find negativity… With Padmaavat, people had raised objection even before watching the film and had protested on the streets. The same conversation is continuing years later, so what can I say, let people say what they want to.”