Actor Ranvir Shorey has strongly criticized Swara Bhasker for her recent comments about the Jauhar scene in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Padmaavat. Shorey took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to express his anger over Bhasker’s comparison between the historical practice of Jauhar and modern r*pe survivors. He called her remarks “utterly shameless” and questioned the logic behind drawing such a connection.
The controversy started when Swara Bhasker spoke at the Woman, Life, Freedom discussion held at the India International Centre in Delhi on August 31, 2026. During the event, she shared her thoughts on the climax of the 2018 film Padmaavat, which stars Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, and Shahid Kapoor. Bhasker said the scene disturbed her and raised questions about the message it sends to survivors of sexual violence.
What Swara Bhasker Said About the Jauhar Scene
Swara Bhasker explained her reaction while watching the film’s ending. She said:
“I’m watching this, these 800 women committing jauhar, and I was like, yaar, if I had been, God forbid, if I was a rpe survivor, what is this film telling me? I would feel like a coward, that I didn’t kill myself to save my honour. Is that what you want to tell in a society like ours, where I feel like there’s anyway a rpe epidemic?”
She also questioned whether films should send the message that a woman’s purity matters more than her life. Bhasker added that she was disturbed by the idea that a woman’s life could be tied to her sexual purity. She further asked:
“Is this what we want to tell our survivors, that you didn’t deserve to live? That if you actually had been honourable and brave women, you would have killed yourself. Are we saying that r*pe is the end of a woman’s life?”
Ranvir Shorey Fires Back on Social Media
Ranvir Shorey did not take kindly to Bhasker’s remarks. He posted a series of sharp comments on X, questioning the connection she was trying to make. He wrote:
“I still don’t get it! Comparing Jauhar (suicide by fire in defiance of inevitable and endless rpe, violence and even necrophilia!) to rpe survivors? Where’s the connection? They’re two completely different sets!”
Shorey went further and accused Bhasker of having bad intentions. He added:
“The only intention can be to malign one group of people while trying to whitewash the other! Utterly shameless!”
The actor made it clear that he sees no similarity between the medieval practice of Jauhar and the experiences of modern r*pe survivors. He stressed that the two situations belong to completely different contexts and should not be compared.
Swara Bhasker Clarifies Her Statement
After facing heavy backlash on social media, Swara Bhasker released a video statement on September 1, 2026, to clear the air. She said her words were being mistranslated and shared falsely. Bhasker insisted that she never called Rani Padmavati or the other women who committed Jauhar “cowards”.
In her video, she said:
“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. Those who want to abuse me, go ahead, but at least abuse me for the right thing.”
She explained that her comment was about how she would feel if she were a rpe survivor watching that scene. She said she would feel like a coward for not taking her own life, not that the women in the film were cowards. Bhasker also pointed out the recent gang-rpe of a 16-year-old girl in Delhi as an example of the r*pe epidemic in the country.
The History Behind the Controversy
This is not the first time Swara Bhasker has spoken against the Jauhar scene in Padmaavat. Soon after the film released in 2018, she wrote an open letter to director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. In that letter, she argued that the film glorified self-immolation and reduced women’s worth to their physical modesty.
The letter created a lot of debate at the time. Many people, including historians and industry professionals, disagreed with her. They pointed out that the scene showed a tragic historical event that happened during wartime, not something the film was endorsing for modern times.
Online Reactions and Debate
The clash between Ranvir Shorey and Swara Bhasker has sparked fresh debate on social media. Some users defended Bhasker’s right to share her views on cinema and historical representation. Others supported Shorey for defending historical context against what they saw as a wrong interpretation of medieval history.
The argument highlights a continuing divide in Bollywood. It shows how actors and public figures often disagree on how to interpret history through films and what kind of political commentary is acceptable.
Swara Bhasker’s husband, Fahad Ahmad, also came to her defense amid the backlash. However, the controversy continues to grow, with more people joining the conversation on both sides.
Related:
What Is Jauhar?
For readers who may not know, Jauhar is a historical practice where women would light a fire and jump into it to avoid being captured, tortured, or r*ped by enemy forces during war. It was mostly practiced by Rajput women in medieval India when they faced certain defeat in battle. The practice is shown in the climax of Padmaavat, where Queen Padmavati and other women of the palace commit Jauhar to protect their honor from the invading army.
Ranvir Shorey and others who agree with him believe that comparing this historical act of desperation to the experiences of modern r*pe survivors ignores the reality of wartime violence. They argue that the two situations are completely different and should not be mixed up for political reasons.
Also Read: Ajay Devgn’s Chauhaan Faces Backlash as Rajput Group Slams Title and Teaser
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