'Bawaal': Hitler Reference in Varun Dhawan’s Upcoming Movie Causes Stir Online

Some viewers have expressed concerns about trivialising Hitler's actions and equating it with greed.

Bawaal, featuring Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor, has created quite a 'bawaal' (commotion) on the internet.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/ Altered by The Quint)

Nitesh Tiwari's upcoming movie Bawaal, featuring Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor, has created quite a 'bawaal' (commotion) on the internet. After the much talked-about teaser, the movie's trailer which was released on Sunday, July 9, has caught the internet's attention again.

From the looks of it, the film seems to be a romantic-thriller, but scenes depicting the Holocaust and references to Hitler have created a lot of confusion about the movie's plot.

Response from Nitesh Tiwari

Amidst the criticism, Nitesh Tiwari offered some clarification at the trailer launch of the film in Dubai and addressed the relevance of the Hitler reference in the film.

According to Outlook, he said, "While creating a character, you can go back and look at the events and incidents which can play an important role in the overall arc of that character and the relationship in general. It’s not just about Hitler. There are many more things that you may not have seen in the trailer. Every incident has been very carefully chosen that can have an impact on the overall arc.”

He also added, "There’s so much that has happened and you can’t take everything. You’ve to pick and choose things which would probably impact the journey of the characters and that’s precisely why it [World War II as a backdrop] has been taken. Hitler also happens to be a part of it and you can’t not have him in World War II.”

While the choice of the scenes in the trailer have served its purpose of creating buzz and intrigue, the audience are still concerned about the relevance and depiction of the events of World War II in the movie.

The Cause of Concern and Criticism

One dialogue in particular has come under the scanner where Janhvi says, "Hum sab bhi to thode bahut Hitler jaise hi hain na? (We all too are a little like Hitler, aren't we?)"

Although, without much context, it's too early to pass judgments about the dialogue and the film, but it is receiving criticism from netizens for being irresponsible and attempting to trivialise the gravity of Hitler's actions.

Here are some concerns that netizens have raised. One user wrote, "Can't believe they said we are all like Hitler, what kind of a dialogue is that?? Normalising Hitler??"

Here are other reactions:

‘In Nitesh Tiwari, We Trust’: Support From the Fans

On the other hand, some users have come to director Nitesh Tiwari's aid and are quite excited to find out how he has addressed netizens' concerns.

(With inputs from Outlook)