Swara Bhasker clarifies 'Padmaavat' Jauhar remark after backlash, 'never said Rani Padmaavati was coward'

New Delhi: A day after her comments on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat 'Jauhar' scene being 'problematic' went viral, Swara Bhasker faced massive backlash. She has now shared a video on her Instagram clarifying how people misconstrued her comment completely.

Swara said in the video, “Ek aur din and ek aur Twitter controversy. Aaj subha se Twitter aur social media pe ek mera clip viral ho raha hai jo maine kal ek event bola, mujhse poocha gaya tha ki Sanjay Leela Bhansali sir ko jo open letter maine Padmavat ke upar likha tha, voh maine kyun likha tha. Toh jawab dene main jab main samjha rahi thi meri dikkat kya thi, maine kuch kaha tha jo ab sarasar galat tareeke se anuvaadit ho raha hai. Aur jo ek jhooth banakar phailaya jaa raha hai ki maine ye kaha ki Rani Padmavati aur jo baaki mahilao ne jauhar kiya tha voh kayar hai."

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She added, "Main clearly kehna chahti hoon ki maine kattayi aisa nahi kaha ki Rani Padmavati kayar thi ya voh baaki mahilaye mahal ki raniya ya jo aurtein thi jinhone jauhar kiya tha voh kayar thi. Maine kya kaha, English mein kaha tha aur uska anuvaad main khud karke bata deti hoon kyunki jab bhasha samajh nahi ati, pooch lena chahiye ya check kar lena chahiye. “Mangharant jhooth banakar phailana nahi chahiye aur logon ko uttejit nahi karna chahiye. Aur jo log mujhe gaaliya dena chahte hai, dijiye lekin sahi cheez par dijiye."

About her earlier comment controversy, Swara added, "Maine kaha tha (I said) while watching the climax, I felt that god forbid if I would have been a rape victim, I would have felt like a coward that I did not kill myself."

मेरा एक वीडियो क्लिप वायरल है- जिसे ग़लत रूप से झूठे ढंग से अनुवादित किया जा रहा है! मैंने कतई नहीं कहा कि रानी पद्मावती या कोई भी सती कायर थी । शर्मनाक है कि @ndtvindia और अन्य मीडिया चैनल और लोग बार बार झूठा इल्ज़ाम लगाकर लोगों को उत्तेजित कर रहे हैं ।
गाली देनी है तो दो- पर… pic.twitter.com/TR8sy5gRCr

— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) September 1, 2026

She highlighted how people have misinterpreted her comment completely.

What is Swara Bhasker's Jauhar controversy?

At the Woman, Life, Freedom talk event at the India International Centre in Delhi, Swara shared her opinion on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat. She recalled her reaction after watching the film and said, “I’m watching this and all of these 800 women committing Jauhar... God forbid if I was a rape survivor, what is this film telling me? I would feel like a coward. That I didn’t kill myself to save my ‘honour’.”

“I was watching it, and I thought that if God forbid, I was a rape survivor, what is this film telling me? I would feel like a coward that I didn’t commit suicide to save my honour. Is that what you want to tell in a society like ours where I feel like, anyway, there is a rape epidemic? Is this what we want to tell our survivors that they don’t deserve to live, that if you actually would have been an honourable and brave woman, you would have killed yourself. Are we saying that rape is the end of a woman’s life? This scene was so problematic.”

Padmaavat is a 2018 period drama directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. It featured Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji.