Swara Bhasker: ‘I feel like every culture evolves with time’: Shriya Pilgaonkar REACTS to Swara Bhasker’s ‘Padmaavat’ controversy | Hindi Movie News

Shriya Pilgaonkar has opened up about the ongoing discussion surrounding Swara Bhasker’s comments on Jauhar’s sequence in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Padmaavat’.The actor spoke about the importance of understanding historical practices within the social and cultural circumstances of his time.

He also warned against applying today’s standards to people who lived in a very different time.

Speaking to Filmygyan, Shriya Pilgaonkar reflected on how cultures and social values change across generations. She said: “Sitting in 2026, we are discussing things that happened 100 or 200 years ago and trying to understand how people felt at that time: their values, what they wanted to do and the pressures they faced.

We cannot judge them by today’s standards.

Shriya Pilgaonkar says culture evolves with circumstances

Shriya Pilgaonkar further explained that cultural values cannot be seen as something fixed. According to her, changes in human circumstances and experiences play an important role in shaping the thinking of societies. He added: “I feel like every culture evolves over time. It evolves with circumstances, situations and the human condition. Therefore, I don’t think it’s fair to assume a particular mindset or make a generic judgment about an era that was fundamentally different from our own.” His comments come amid renewed attention to Swara Bhasker’s criticism of Jauhar’s portrayal in ‘Padmaavat’. Swara Bhasker had questioned the message that the audience could take away from the series. In particular, she had expressed concern about its possible impact on rape survivors.

Swara Bhasker clarifies her comments on ‘Padmaavat’

Swara Bhasker then addressed the criticism she received after her comments went viral. In a video shared on Instagram, he said his comments had been misinterpreted.

He clarified that he had not described Rani Padmaavati or the women in the palace as cowards.Swara Bhasker said, “This morning, a clip of mine has gone viral on social media. It was from an event yesterday, where I was asked why I had sent an open letter to Sanjay Leela Bhansali after watching Padmaavat. While explaining what my problem was, I said something that is now being completely mistranslated and falsely spread, claiming that I had said that Rani Padmaavati and the other women who committed Jauhar were cowards.

“She added, “Main clearly kehna chahti hoon, maine aisa bilkul nahi kaha ki Rani Padmaavati Kayar thi yaa Mahal ki baaki aurtien Kayar thi Jo log mujhe gaaliyan dena chahte hain, dijiye par sahi cheez pe dijiye. Maine kaha tha jab main climax dekh rahi thi, mujhe laga, bhagwan naa kare agar rape main peedita hoti toh main kayar mehsoos karti ki maine aapni jaan kyun nahi li, Ki main balatkar ke baad Zinda Bach gayi toh main kayar hoon(I want to make it absolutely clear that I did not say that Rani Padmaavati was a coward or that the other women in the palace were cowards.

Those who want to abuse me, move on, but at least abuse me for the right thing. What I said was that as I watched the climax, I thought, God forbid, if I were a rape survivor, I would feel like a coward for not taking my own life (that if I had survived after being raped, I would feel like a coward).”

Swara Bhasker questions the message of Jauhar sequence

Swara Bhasker linked her concerns to the broader issue of sexual violence. She questioned whether films should depict narratives that could be interpreted as putting a woman’s honor before her life.

He also referred to the Nirbhaya case when talking about the importance of a survivor’s will to live.Swara Bhasker said, “Yeh asliyat hai humare desh mein. Kya hume aisi filmein banani chahiye jahan yeh sandesh jaa raha hai ki aurat ki pavitrata uski zindagi se Jyada mulyawaan tha? Bach gayi toh yeh buri baat hai (This is the reality of our country.

Should we make movies that send the message that a woman’s purity is more valuable than her life? Should we tell a rape survivor that it would have been better if she had died and that surviving the assault was a bad thing?”

Swara Bhasker’s original review of ‘Padmaavat’

While talking about the sequence, Swara Bhasker explained how watching the climax made her question the message being conveyed to survivors of sexual violence. While speaking at the Women, Life, Freedom talk at the India International Center in Delhi on August 31, she said, “I was watching it and I thought, God forbid, I am a rape survivor, what does this film say to me? I would feel like a coward if I didn’t commit suicide to save my honor.

Is that what you want to tell in a society like ours where I feel like there is an epidemic of rape anyway? Is this what we want to tell our survivors that they don’t deserve to live, that if you had truly been an honorable and brave woman, you would have committed suicide? Are we saying that rape is the end of a woman’s life? “This scene was very problematic.”Swara Bhasker also spoke about a shot of a pregnant woman during the Jauhar sequence. She said: “Then there was a gunshot that made me so angry that I shouted ‘chii’ loudly; there is a close-up of the belly of a pregnant woman performing jauhar. So you are telling me that the fetus, which could be a woman, does not deserve to be born because she could be raped by a Muslim ruler. I was so angry. I waited five days to check if I still feel that way, and after five days, I wrote a letter.