Swara Bhasker Schooled For Her ‘Partly Fictionalised Filmy Torture Of Hindus’ Post About Chhaava

In a post on X, Swara Bhasker wrote: “A society that is more enraged at the heavily embellished partly fictionalised filmy torture of Hindus from 500 years ago than they are at the horrendous death by stampede & mismanagement + then alleged JCB bulldozer handling…Read More

Actor Swara Bhasker’s recent post comparing the outrage on the “partly fictionalised filmy torture of Hindus” in the movie ‘Chhava’ to the reaction to the deaths at the Mahakumbh stampede has sparked strong reactions, with many saying it “insulted the sentiments of Indians”.

Directed by Laxman Utekar and produced by Dinesh Vijan under Maddock Films, Chhaava is a historical action film based on the life of Maratha king Sambhaji, the eldest son of Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha empire. While Vicky Kaushal plays the titular role, Rashmika Mandanna is essaying the role of Maharani Yesubai and Akshaye Khanna in the role of Aurangzeb. It is adapted from the Marathi novel Chhava by Shivaji Sawant. It is running successfully in the theatres.

The film depicts the brutal torture of Sambhaji by Mughal forces. Historians claim that Sambhaji was asked to surrender all his forts and treasures, and finally to convert to Islam. But he refused to do so, as a result, he was given a torturous death.

In a post on X, Bhasker, whose bio describes her as “sick of the hate & bigotry that is normalised in world, nicer & more patriotic than social media would have you believe”, wrote: “A society that is more enraged at the heavily embellished partly fictionalised filmy torture of Hindus from 500 years ago than they are at the horrendous death by stampede & mismanagement + then alleged JCB bulldozer handling of corpses – is a brain & soul-dead society. #IYKYK”

The January 29 Mahakumbh stampede Bhasker referred to had led to at least 30 deaths. UP CM Yogi Adityanath had announced an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh for kin of the victims.

In response, Swati Chaturvedi, a journalist, wrote: “Rethink, this tweet Swara, I am a student of history from Delhi university & nothing remotely fictional about the torture inflicted by Aurangzeb on Sambhaji Maharaj before he murdered him. Let’s not play games with our history please. One outrage does not preclude the other.”

Jai Anant Dehradai, a Supreme Court advocate, wrote: “Fictionalised filmy torture of Hindus”?! How dare you seek to make light of the supreme sacrifice made by Sambhaji Maharaj – who was brutally tortured and murdered by the wicked Mughal coward Aurangzeb! Swara Bhaskar – your deeply offensive and hurtful statement, that too on the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, is obviously aimed at deliberately insulting the sentiments of millions of Indians and to create strife between religious groups. You, madam, ought to be prosecuted for this criminal offence to the fullest extent permissible under the law.”

Another Netizen Rishi Bagree wrote: “On the contrary, the movie didn’t even show the fraction of torture Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje was subjected to…”

Another X user Nitendra wrote: “So now, Hindus caring about their history and reclaiming their narrative = “brain & soul-dead society”? But crying about Mughal glorification, victimhood politics, and fake secularism is “intellectual activism”?”

Earlier, the film got into a controversy over the scene in which Kaushal was seen performing ‘lezim’ folk dance. The director later agreed to remove the objectionable portion.

Meanwhile, Bhasker had recently slammed those questioning her wardrobe choices after marriage to Fahad Ahmad. The actor sarcastically called her sartorial choices a matter of ‘national cyber debate’ and shared some other pictures to prove trolls wrong.

Bhasker had also recently said that voicing her opinions on social media cost her her career.