It seems has become the pejorative of the Hindi film industry to overlook the deep social, cultural, religious and historical emotions of the various sections of society. Whether it is the belittling of the most revered Hindu epic of ‘Ramayana’ in the Om Raut-directed movie ‘Adipurush’ in the name of adaptation or the trivialization of the most tragic aspect of the holocaust of the Jewish community of Germany in the recently launched Varun Dhawan and Jahnvi Kapoor starrer ‘Bawaal’, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the Hindi film industry is messing up everything in the name of presenting an extremely secular picture of itself before the world. The Auschwitz Holocaust incident remains one of the most tragic chapters in the history of the Jewish community throughout the world. Therefore, the Israeli Embassy of India and several other Jewish organizations both inside and outside of India have already started staging severe protests against the screening of the film.

The Unforgettable Historical Atrocity

The holocaust of the Jewish community in the Nazi concentration camp that took place in several vicious gas chambers in the city of Auschwitz in Poland has remained to date one of the most terrifying chapters in the history of humanity and human civilization. It was proof of how insensitivity towards one particular community or particular communities can wreak havoc on the entire humanity and human civilization, making us question and doubt ourselves as the greatest creation of Mother Nature. The holocaust saw the systematic and meticulously planned out extermination of almost 6 million Jewish people, including infants, small children, women and even disabled individuals. This led to the death of Anne Frank at a tender age and we lost a great budding writer too early. It stands out as the epitome of xenophobia, communalism and anti-Semitism to date. The indescribable suffering that was experienced by the Jewish community demands nothing else but a solemn remembrance and a commitment on the part of human civilization and humanity to prevent the same thing from happening in the future anywhere in the world.

The Sheer Display of Insensitivity

The movie ‘Bawaal’, directed by Nitesh Tiwari and starring Varun Dhawan and Jahnvi Kapoor, saw the story of a professor of History travelling to various European countries that were affected by the ravages of the Second World War. Their relationship takes a bitter turn there and they are made to explore the various nuances of their relationship amidst the backdrop of the Second World War. Everything was good and going smoothly until there came a few scenes in the movie, where it was seen that Jhanvi Kapoor compared the aspect of human greed to Hitler, she says that “We are all a little bit like Hitler, are we not?” There was another moment in the movie when Varun Dhawan metaphorically compares the marital discord in a couple’s life to that of the holocaust that was carried out in the vicious gas chambers of Auschwitz. This got the Jewish community throughout the world triggered with some even demanding to put a complete ban on the movie.

The Voicing of Disapproval

That things have gone completely south is evident from the way the Israeli Embassy in India started voicing out its disapproval of the movie and even calling out the entire team and the artists, who were associated with the making of the movie. “The Israeli embassy is disturbed by the trivialization of the significance of the Holocaust in the recent movie ‘Bawaal’,” was a tweet that was posted by the Embassy of Israel voicing their sheer irritation with the dialogues that have been mentioned above. “There was a poor choice in the utilization of some terminology in the movie, and though we assume no malice was intended, we urge everyone who may not be fully aware of the horrors of the Holocaust to educate themselves about it,” read another tweet from the Embassy of Israel in India.

“Auschwitz is not a metaphor. It is a quintessential example of man’s capacity for evil”, tweeted Abraham Cooper, the Rabbi or the Jewish head priest and religious leader. He is associated with the Simon Wiesenthal Centre or SWC. He is also the Dean and Director of Global Social Action. “By having the protagonist in this movie declare that ‘Every relationship goes through their Auschwitz’, Nitesh Tiwari, trivialises and demeans the memory of 6 million murdered Jews and millions of others who suffered at the hands of Hitler’s genocidal regime,” Cooper tweeted calling out the people, who were associated with the movie. Several other organizations of the Jewish people in India have urged the over-the-top (OTT) platform Amazon Prime to ban the movie entirely and not stream it. They fear this could create a wrong attitude and insensitivity towards this one of the darkest moments of human history. Several educational programmes have already been launched to make people aware of this one of the darkest moments of human civilization and humanity. This condemnation of the film by the Israeli embassy has reflected the broader concern over the belittling of the Auschwitz incident. The Israeli embassy is also not much happy with one scene in the movie that showed the hero and the heroine in striped pyjamas in a Nazi camp in a fantasy scene.

The Cover-Up by the Movie Makers

No remorse has been so far displayed by the actors or the makers of the movie for being so inhumanly insensitive towards such a sensitive topic. Rather, they have tried to justify their portrayal of the scenes in their way. “I’ve kept the incidents and events, which kind of play an important role in the arc of the characters and their relationships in the movie… Every incident has been carefully chosen. World War 2 is humongous, there is so much to say,” was the statement given by director Nitesh Tiwari ahead of the release of the movie on Amazon Prime over the top (OTT) platform on the 21^st of July this year. Actor Varun Dhawan supported the director with his statement, “Some people got triggered or sensitive about this. But I don’t understand, where does that sensitivity or trigger go when they watch, suppose, an English film?” He was referring to the biopic of nuclear bomb manufacturer Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan that showed a scene of physical intimacy featuring a recital of the Bhagavad Gita.

Whatever be it, one thing that the makers of a movie must drill into themselves is that art does not give them the power to slight anybody’s culture and religion, whether it is ’Bawaal’ or ‘Oppenheimer’ by Christopher Nolan.