The Bollywood movie Bawaal, which uses the Holocaust as a plot reference and already attracted lots of criticism from Indian viewers, has now earned international criticism. A Jewish organisation has written an open letter to Prime Video to take down the movie from the OTT platform, and not make money from the movie which trivialises the ‘suffering and systematic murder of millions of victims of the Nazi Holocaust’.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), a human rights NGO dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Nazi Holocaust, has requested Amazon Prime Video to remove the movie Bawaal for using the Holocaust as a plot device.
The Nitesh Kumar venture has been the subject of controversies ever since it was released. Heavy criticism was levelled at the film for trivialising Jewish oppression during the Nazi regime under Hitler. The storyline has provoked international outcry for its callous portrayal of Nazi Germany’s brutality towards Jews and for utilising their persecution as a mere plot device to motivate character development.
Varun Dhawan starred as Ajay and Janhvi Kapoor played Nisha in the movie which is being slammed for the way it has devalued the tragedy in the narrative. The main characters visited Auschwitz’s gas chamber while travelling to World War II locations. They are depicted in a gas chamber during a dream sequence that included scenes of them having trouble breathing.
When discussing human avarice, Nisha implored, “We’re all a little like Hitler, aren’t we?” The character also remarked, “Every relationship goes through their Auschwitz,” in another moment, indicating that every relationship has its challenges. The trivialisation of such a critical historical occurrence has not gone down well with many who have objected to the same.
A statement issued by SWC said, “Directed by well-known Indian filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari, the film’s storyline which is set in contemporary times, leads to scenes in which the protagonists enter a gas chamber in Auschwitz and are suffocated while wearing striped clothing. 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?’”
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of Simon Wiesenthal Centre and Director of Global Social Action, demanded that Amazon “stop monetising” Bawaal right away and has referred to the movie as a “banal trivialization of the suffering and systematic murder of millions of victims of the Nazi Holocaust.”
SWC stands up for the security of Jews everywhere and denounces anti-Semitism and hatred. Additionally, the group aims to preserve the memory of those who died during the Holocaust.
He stated, “Auschwitz is not a metaphor. It is the quintessential example of Man’s capacity for Evil. By having the protagonist in this movie declare that ‘every relationship goes through their Auschwitz,’ Nitesh Tiwari trivializes and demeans the memory of six million murdered Jews and millions of others who suffered at the hands of Hitler’s genocidal regime.”
He further added, “If the filmmaker’s goal was to gain PR for their movie by reportedly filming a fantasy sequence at the Nazi death camp, he has succeeded. Amazon Prime should stop monetizing Bawaal by immediately removing this banal trivialization of the suffering and systematic murder of millions of victims of the Nazi Holocaust.”
The Bawaal
The movie features Varun Dhawan as a teacher Ajay who is married to Nisha played by Janhvi Kapoor, an epilepsy patient so he does not like her. Ajay is suspended from the job for slapping the son of a politician. To save the job, he devices the most bizarre plan, visit Word War II places of interest in Europe and live stream history classes from there. Because, “his students will never understand this chapter of history unless he lives and feels it.”
Financed by his father, he reluctantly takes his wife on the European tour to visit places like Paris, Normandy, Amsterdam, Berlin, Auschwitz etc. As they travel various historical cites including Nazi concentration camps and gas chambers, their falling mariage starts to heal as Ajay finds that Nisha knows better about the places.
However, problems start to emerge when the main characters start to use the Holocaust events to relate to their own lives and comparing them. Like, when Ajay has to pack his bag quickly, he compares it with how Jews were ordered to take everything they could when Nazis arrived and sent them to ghetos and then to concentration camps. Or how Ajay starts feeling for Nisha after imagining them trappped in a gas chamber along with Jewish prisoners.
According to film critic Rahul Desai, it looks worse than it sounds.
Social media reaction to the tone-deaf treatment of World War II
Social media users weren’t far behind to criticise the film either. An individual expressed his astonishment at the movie’s dialogue, which says “‘”every relationship goes through their Auschwitz”.
This is a legit dialogue in Bawaal. pic.twitter.com/cEmFiFhYo0
— gulab singh lakhan singh haryanewale (@IndieKnopfler) July 21, 2023
One referred to it as the “Most Insensitive Bollywood Film Award” and called it a mediocre and lacklustre love story.
The “Most Insensitive Bollywood Film Award” goes to #Bawaal.
— Anjali (@MsAnjaliB) July 21, 2023
Trivialising the horrors of the WWII/ Holocaust & using these as metaphors for what… another mediocre, lacklustre love story?
Janhvi Kapoor & Varun Dhawan should be ashamed of themselves for not knowing better.
A netizen posted, “Comparison with Hitler without knowing about Hitler.” He asserted that the makers have forgotten that he is “the murderer of millions of people.”
comparison with HITLER without knowing about Hitler, i think the #Bawaal makers think they are giving brilliant message, but they forget that Hitler is the murderer of millions peoples..!!! pic.twitter.com/oN90GjkqCb
— k (@losingame__) July 21, 2023
Another wrote, “Comparing tribulations and problems in a marriage to Auschwitz mass genocide is the lowest a Bollywood movie has ever stooped to,” and alleged that any Hollywood movie would have been cancelled if it had attempted the same.
Comparing tribulations and problems in a marriage to Auschwitz mass genocide is the lowest a Bollywood movie has ever stooped to. If a Hollywood movie, it would have been cancelled forever. Wtf were the Amazon people smoking when they green lit this?#Bawaal #BawaalOnPrime
— attraversiamo 👻 (@Walede16) July 21, 2023
“How can you compare your turbulent relationship with Auschwitz,” questioned Hunoon.
Was really expecting to be blown away by the twist in #Bawaal but it turned out to be such a mess?? How can you compare your turbulent relationship with AUSCHWITZ??
— Hunoon (@cine_iac) July 21, 2023
Bawaal team defended the film
In a recent interview with Pinkvilla, director Nitesh Tiwari defended his film and commented, “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.”
He voiced, “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 director defended, “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. You run down the entire movie by eliminating one or two peculiar instances.” He insisted, “There are so many good messages which are there in the movie.”
Varun Dhawan voiced, “Some people got triggered or sensitive about this. But I don’t understand where does that sensitivity or trigger go when they watch, suppose an English film, I’m saying for example. They’re allowed to do everything there, they’re allowed to take leaps and they’re allowed to show things in a certain way, but you’ll find that correct.”
“I know people have got very triggered after watching a small scene in a brilliant film, recently released. It’s a scene that’s important to our culture and our country. But that’s okay for you. You don’t feel they should be more sensitive to you? So where does your criticism go then,” he asked.
Janhvi Kapoor supported the movie as well and stated that when she discussed it with an Ivy League professor whose relatives perished in the Holocaust, he wasn’t outraged but rather very moved by it. “He understood everything that we set out to do with the film, and never once in the conversation did he ever allude to being offended by anything.”
Watch the entire interview below:
