Bollywood actress Swara Bhaskar slammed Sanjay Leela Bhansali in an open letter which was published in The Wire on Saturday. She slammed Bhansali for gloryfing 'Jauhar' and 'Sati' in thw movie.
The letter reads:
I felt like a vagina. I felt reduced to a vagina–only. I felt like all the ‘minor’ achievements that women and women’s movements have made over the years– like the right to vote, the right to own property, the right to education, equal pay for equal work, maternity leave, the Vishakha judgement, the right to adopt children…all of it was pointless; because we were back to basics.
Should one make a film glorifying lynchings as a sign of some warped notion of hot-bloodedness, purity, bravery I don’t know, I have no idea how possibly one could glorify such a heinous hate crime.
Women have the right to live, despite being raped sir.Women have the right to live, despite the death of their husbands, male ‘protectors’, ‘owners’, ‘controllers of their sexuality’...whatever you understand the men to be.
I understand that Jauhar and Sati are a part of our social history. These happened. I understand that they are sensational, shocking dramatic occurrences that lend themselves to splendid, stark and stunning visual representation; especially in the hands of a consummate maker like yourself — but then so were the lynchings of blacks by murderous white mobs in the 19th century in the US – sensational, shocking dramatic social occurrences. Does that mean one should make a film about it with no perspective on racism? Or, without a comment on racial hatred?
Your thoughts?
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