Jewish human rights organisation slams Varun Dhawan's Bawaal: 'Auschwitz is not a metaphor'

Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor's recently released filmBawaal courted controversy on social media from the very first teaser, which showed the lead couple of the film in the infamous Auschwitz gas chamber, where millions of innocent people lost their lives. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the movie tells the complicated love story of a couple, with lessons from World War II playing a major role in their life.

The film faced backlash for its depiction of the Holocaust, showing the lead couple visiting German towns like Paris, Berlin, and the concentration camp Auschwitzand comparing their complications and difficulties with World War II.A week after its release, the movie faced backlash from a Jewish human rights organisation, which slammed the film and asked Amazon Prime to remove it from the streaming platform.

Jewish human rights group calls out Bawaal

Slamming the plot of the movie, the human rights group said that ''Auschwitz is not a metaphor.''

In the statement, they said, "Auschwitz is not a metaphor. It is the quintessential example of Man’s capacity for Evil. By having the protagonist in this movie declare that ‘Every relationship goes through their Auschwitz,’ Nitesh Tiwari, trivializes and demeans the memory of 6 million murdered Jews and millions of others who suffered at the hands of Hitler’s genocidal regime.''

As per Indian Express, SWC Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action, Rabbi Abraham Cooper has asked Amazon Primeto pull down Bawaal from the platform with immediate effect, as he called the movie, a “banal trivialisation of the suffering and systematic murder of millions of victims of the Nazi Holocaust.”

"Amazon Prime should stop monetizing Bawaal by immediately removing this banal trivialization of the suffering and systematic murder of millions of victims of the Nazi Holocaust," the human rights body mentioned.

What has been shown in the film?

The film revolves around Ajay Dixit (Varun Dhawan), who is a self-obsessed history teacher, and her better half, Nisha (Janvhi Kapoor), and their epic love story. In a tryst to prove himself and get his old image back, Ajay, who is from Lucknow, a town in north India, goes on a trip to Europe, where World War II began.

During their trip, the couple rediscovers their lives as they understand the struggles that people faced during the Second World War. In one scene, Janhvi's character Nisha talks about the endless greed of humans as he compares it with Hitler and his greed: "We’re all a little like Hitler, aren’t we?"

In another scene, Janhvi says, “Every relationship goes through their Auschwitz”.

Nitesh Tiwari on the backlash

Director Nitesh Tiwari reacted to the backlash of the criticisms received by his movie. During his interview with Pinkvilla, the directorsaid, "You need to understand that it's something that's a part and parcel of our job. Every time you have a creative expression, there will be divided points of view on it, no matter what you create. I, personally, secretly wish that criticisms would be constructive. I believe in doing that. Arguments, if they are civilized, can be very constructive."

WATCH WION LIVE HERE