Nitesh Tiwari refuses to believe that the Auschwitz scene in his film Bawaal is insensitive. He says that was never his intention and this kind of criticism can ruin his hard-earned image.
Director Nitesh Tiwari says he’s hurt and disappointed with the kind of criticism his film ‘Bawaal’ has received from a section of viewers. Starring Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor, the film shows a young couple working on the differences in their marriage as they visit the World War II sites in Europe. In a scene, which has been highly slammed by the viewers, Nisha asks Ajju “Aren’t we all too a little like Hitler?” Later, she uses Auschwitz as a metaphor to describe the struggles in her marriage. Janhvi’s Nisha says “Every relationship goes through their Auschwitz.”
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In an interview now, Tiwari spoke about including the same Auschwitz reference and how it hurts him to realise that people are questioning his intention behind making the film. Speaking to Pinkvilla, the Dangal director addressed the criticism and said one should question the ‘creatives’ but not the ‘intent’. He said he has been criticised everytime he made a movie but this time, he just thought that people didn’t focus on the good that he has shown in the story.
Nitesh Tiwari Defends The ‘Insensitive’ Auschwitz Scene in Bawaal
Explaining his intention and the idea behind curating the whole Holocaust scene, Tiwari said, “I am a bit disappointed with the way some people have comprehended it. That was never the intention. It would never be my intention to be insensitive in any which way… Don’t we see Ajju and Nisha getting completely troubled and moved by what they see in Auschwitz? They do. They see the prisoners, they see how they were stacked, they see how they were exterminated. Are they being insensitive about it? No. They are moved to tears.”
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He went on to defend his narrative and said Bawaal has so many other things going on but why are people only judging it on the basis of two odd incidents? “You take out one or two odd incidents and run down the whole film. That means you do not believe in any of those strong messages which the film stood for,” he said. Tiwari also highlighted how criticism could potentially ruin his image, which he has made with so many years of hard work.
The director said, “You can question the creative process and the creatives, but please do not question the intent. The moment you start questioning the intent, it becomes hurtful. It puts a question on your credibility, which has taken so many years of hard work to build. That is something that I think should be avoided. I’m all for criticism, but it should be a conversation.”
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Varun spoke on the same lines earlier and said he doesn’t understand selective criticism. Referring to the contentious scene in Oppenheimer involving Bhagavad Gita, he questioned why the same level of criticism is not reserved for Hollywood films that show our culture in a bad light.
Bawaal, also starring Manoj Pahwa, Mukesh Tiwari and Anjuman Saxena, is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
