Swara Bhasker says she never called Rani Padmaavati a coward

Swara Bhasker has addressed the criticism directed at her recent remarks regarding the jauhar scene in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat. The actor said that her comments had been misconstrued and wrongly portrayed as a statement against Rani Padmaavati and the women who committed jauhar after a video from her presence at the Woman, Life, Freedom event in Delhi went viral.

Swara explained that she had never referred to Rani Padmaavati as a "coward" in a video posted on Instagram on Tuesday. Rather, she explained that her remarks were about the message she believed the movie's ending could convey to victims of sexual assault in a world where rape culture is still a major issue.

"This morning, a clip of mine has been going viral on social media," Swara added in an explanation of the issue surrounding the viral video. "I was asked why, after seeing Padmaavat, I had written an open letter to Sanjay Leela Bhansali at an event yesterday. I made a statement during my explanation of my problem that is currently being incorrectly translated and disseminated, stating that I said that Rani Padmaavati and the other women who committed jauhar were cowards.

"I want to make it absolutely clear that I did not say that Rani Padmaavati was a coward or that the other women in the palace were cowards," she added. "Go ahead and mistreat me if you want to, but at least do it for the right reason. As I mentioned earlier, I felt, 'God forbid, if I were a rape survivor, I would feel like a coward for not taking my own life—that if I had survived after being raped, I would feel like a coward.'"

Swara says Padmaavat's ending could send a problematic message to rape survivors

Swara claims that this was the main reason she disapproved of the movie's ending. She contended that the notion of linking a woman's dignity to her death or sexual purity can send a problematic message to survivors in a society where sexual abuse is pervasive.

"This is the reality of our country," she remarked, alluding to the wider reality of sexual violence in the nation, including a recent reported gang-rape case in Delhi. “Should we be producing films that convey the idea that a woman's purity is more important than her life? Should we be telling a victim of rape that surviving the attack was a negative thing and that it would have been better if she had died?”