Nitesh Tiwari's romantic drama Bawaal has drawn flak for its insensitive parallel between the lead pair's troubled marriage and World War II. In a recent interview, actor Varun Dhawan responded to the criticism the movie has received. The film also stars Janhvi Kapoor and is helmed by Nitesh Tiwari.
Speaking to Pinkvilla, Varun pointed out that his character is meant to be negative:
"What I don't understand like how Sir (Nitesh Tiwari) said that it's a context and the protagonist is from Lucknow and it's showing that the character which is Ajju Bhaiya is initially a tone-deaf character. This is how it has been shown and it's not showing the character as a hero but as a negative. That's why all the praise is coming for the character that a hero for the first time gets to do a negative character. So the character is supposed to be negative. So that's why Nisha (Janhvi's character) explains it to him in a way that he would understand."
Varun also spoke about how people may have varied opinions on his film but the yardstick is different for Hollywood and Bollywood films.
Stating, "Secondly, I respect everyone's opinions and everyone has a right to have an opinion. Some people got triggered and sensitive about this but I don't understand where that sensitivity or the trigger goes when they watch an English film. They are allowed to do and show everything and you will find that correct."
As per reports, he presumably was comparing Bawaal to Oppenheimer: "I know people who felt very triggered after watching the small scene from a recently released film but it's a scene that is very important to our culture and our country but that is okay for you. So where does the criticism go then? But with us, you wanna get personal. You cannot have a different yardstick to measure everyone and it should be the same. There is no need for judging films this way."
For context, in the controversial Oppenheimer scene, the titular character, J. Robert Oppenheimer, appears to be having sex as he reads out verses from an ancient Sanskrit scripture, purported as Bhagavad Gita. While Bawaal compared Jahnvi and Varun's romantic love story with Hitler's regime.
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