Auhona Roy Chowdhury, Pune
The Bollywood film Bawaal,” starring Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor, has sparked controversy and drawn the ire of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization dedicated to preserving the memory of Holocaust victims. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the movie’s depiction of the World War 2 tragedy at Auschwitz has been labeled as a banal trivialization of the suffering and systematic murder of millions of victims by the Nazi regime. The center has called on Amazon Prime Video to stop monetizing the film immediately.
The organization took issue with a particular scene in which the protagonists visit a gas chamber at Auschwitz in a dream-like sequence, struggling to breathe. The movie’s protagonist allegedly declares that “Every relationship goes through Auschwitz”, leading to accusations of trivializing and demeaning the memory of the six million murdered Jews and other victims of Hitler’s genocidal regime.
“Auschwitz is not a metaphor. It is the quintessential example of Man’s capacity for Evil,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
In response to the criticism, Varun Dhawan defended the film, highlighting the different standards applied to English films and Bollywood movies. He argued that certain themes and creative choices are accepted in English cinema but face heightened sensitivity when depicted in Bollywood. Nitesh Tiwari also expressed his disappointment with the way some people interpreted the film, claiming that the intention was never to be insensitive.
Nitesh Tiwari clarified that the film’s intention was never to trivialize the Holocaust or the suffering endured by its victims. He pointed to scenes in which the characters in the movie, Ajju, and Nisha, are deeply troubled and moved by what they witness at Auschwitz. The director emphasized that they show empathy and are brought to tears when witnessing the prisoners, their stacked conditions, and the horrors of extermination.
The debate around the film’s creative choices and portrayal of historical events underscores the importance of sensitivity and respect when dealing with such sensitive topics in cinema.