Bawaal row: ‘Where does your criticism go?’ Varun Dhawan's indirect jibe at Bhagavad Gita scene in Oppenheimer

Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan has finally broken his silence over the Bawaal controversy and took a dig indirectly at the Bhagwad Gita scene in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer movie that hit the theatres on the same day as the Bawaal film, that is, July 21, on Amazon Prime Video.

The Nitesh Tiwari-directed film was trolled for its tone-deaf treatment of World War II and unwanted comparisons of marriage with the horrors of Auschwitz. Twitter users also criticized its approach to sensitive historical events. 

In an interview with Pinkvilla, Varun Dhawan said that some people are sensitive about Bawaal's approach to historical events, but where does it go when those people watch an English film? 

“Some people got trigged or sensitive about this. But I don’t understand where that sensitivity or trigger go when they watch, suppose an English film, I’m saying for example. They’re allowed to do everything there, they’re allowed to take leaps and they’re allowed to show things in a certain way, but you’ll find that correct," Varun Dhawan told the news publication without directly naming Oppenheimer.  

“I know people have got very triggered after watching a small scene in a brilliant film, recently released. It’s a scene that’s important to our culture and our country. But that’s okay for you. You don’t feel they should be more sensitive to you? So where does your criticism go then?” he added. 

Several critics and reviewers across the country have expressed disappointment with an intimate scene in the film featuring a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, considered a holy scripture by Hindus. The scene ignited online fury in India, with many viewers expressing anger over what they see as religious insensitivity.

In Oppenheimer, a scene shows the character having sex while reading out verses from an ancient Sanskrit scripture, with many social media users claiming the lines are from the Bhagavad Gita. They demanded the removal of the sequence from the movie.