Actress Swara Bhasker who had written an open letter to Sanjay Leela Bhansali, had criticised the glorification of Jauhar in the film and wrote that at the end of the movie, she felt reduced to a vagina. Due to which the actress received a lot of backlash for using the word vagina in her letter. The actress also feels that her letter was incredibly stupid one. She also feels that Bollywood braves too much criticism.
When said that her open letter was a bold one she said, “And an incredibly stupid one too, I hear. I didn’t even know that I was so famous, or my voice mattered this much. Although in a twisted, warped way, it did remind me of the reach I had. However, the Bollywood I know deserves more credit than we give it, because the hatred I received for writing that letter came from social media users, not the industry. Bollywood braves too much criticism. It has accepted me the way I am, and given me the space to thrive. Fundamentally, I have fierce opinions. And if I have them, I must be prepared to deal with trolls. In Bollywood, however, everyone is only trying hard to hold their ground, despite all odds. So, this is not the industry that must be blamed.”
She further added, “I have to be careful about the things I say because it will be up for scrutiny. Words are twisted out of context to imply something else. This is also probably the reason behind artistes’ hesitation to back issues that they feel strongly about.”
Swara Bhasker said, “Now I know I have more trolls than fans. But I am not a flippant person, and I stand by everything I say. Trolling is a different kind of bullying and I don’t want to give in. But yes, I am now more aware of the kind of hatred out there. I did not speak anything that’s disrespectful or vicious and so I am not really bothered.”
She told a leading news portal, “Awards are important for someone like me, who has entered Bollywood without any backing from a bigwig. So, an award is a validation that I, a newbie, am getting my due when I perform well. But, they aren’t deal breakers for me. Apart from the opinion of the jury, several factors go into determining the winner.”
She concluded by saying, “See, I don’t think [good] box office figures are signs of appreciation. Great content is celebrated at the BO, but often, so are poor films. Associating economics with a movie is confusing. ‘Anarkali’ was a passion project. We struggled to release it. I went to every big studio to get the backing. I don’t blame them for not producing it because, sometimes, businessmen can’t see content objectively. For me, the film was a hit. It released in a pithy 300 screens at first, and still won hearts. I got messages on social media. Passersby at airports stopped to talk to me about it. So, awards or not, my validation came from the audiences’ reception. I hope it marked the beginning of a trend where content-heavy films that don’t feature stars are also backed by [big] producers.”
