- By Piyali Bhadra
- Thu, 27 Jul 2023 02:53 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor starrer 'Bawaal' is creating rounds on the internet for all the wrong reasons. The film was released on Amazon Prime Video on July 21 and is directed by Nitesh Tiwari.
'Bawaal' is slammed by a section of the Jewish audience for its scene that drew inspiration from the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz. A Jewish organization has written an open letter to the streaming platform to take down the film and stop its monetization.
According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a human rights NGO dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Nazi Holocaust asked the streaming platform to remove the film due to its outlandish abuse of the Nazi Holocaust as a plot device in the film.
The statement given by the group read, "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?'"
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The group slammed the director of the film and said, "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, trivialises and demeans the memory of 6 million murdered Jews and millions of others who suffered at the hands of Hitler's genocidal regime."
Further speaking about the event he said, "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 (Prime Video) should stop monetising Bawaal by immediately removing this banal trivialisation of the suffering and systematic murder of millions of victims of the Nazi Holocaust."
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Soon after the film was released online, netizens also had the same reaction as the link between a romantic pair with World War II seemed misfit and insensitive. In the film, Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Dhawan's characters imagine themselves entering a gas chamber at a Nazi camp. The two are dressed in striped clothing whereas Hitler is used as a metaphor for human greed in the film, having no connection with the backdrop of their love story.
'Bawaal' also features Manoj Pahwa and Anjuman Saxena in pivotal roles, whereas the musical score of the film is given by Mithoon, Tanishk Bagchi, and Akashdeep Sengupta.