Swara Bhasker, Bollywood actor, said at the Woman Life Freedom talk at the India International Centre in Delhi on 2024-08-31 that the Jauhar scene in the 2018 film Padmaavat could send a wrong message to rape survivors, implying they don't deserve to live. ^[1] Swara Bhasker defended a letter she sent to director Sanjay Leela Bhansali regarding the Jauhar scene in the film Padmaavat. ^[2] Bollywood actress Swara Bhasker received heavy online backlash on 2026-09-01 over her remarks calling the Jauhar sequence in Deepika Padukone's 2018 film Padmaavat problematic. ^[3] Swara Bhasker reacted to the criticism via an Instagram Story, posting a photo with the caption saying it is wild that so many people, including women, are triggered by the basic idea that rape survivors have a right to life after rape. ^[4] Several social media users criticized Swara Bhasker's comments, defending Jauhar as an act of bravery by Hindu women against Muslim invaders and calling her 'ignorant' and 'malicious'. ^[5] Swara Bhasker also said she was so angered by a close-up of a pregnant woman's belly in the Jauhar scene that she shouted 'chii' and wrote a letter five days later. ^[6] Swara Bhasker insisted that the scene depicting mass suicide might make sexual assault survivors feel like cowards for not ending their life. ^[7] In her original criticism, Swara Bhasker questioned whether rape should be considered the end of a woman's life, while criticizing the scene in which women perform Jauhar. ^[8] In Padmaavat, the Jauhar sequence occurs after Alauddin Khilji's forces defeat the Rajputs and breach the fort of Chittor, with Rani Padmavati (played by Deepika Padukone) leading the women into collective self-immolation. ^[9] The article characterizes Swara Bhasker as an actress known for making controversial statements. ^[10]