Swara's comment on 'Padmaavat' leads to Twitter spat

Mumbai, Jan 29, 2018: Actress Swara Bhasker's critique of "Padmaavat" as a movie that glorifies Sati and Jauhar, sparked a war of words between celebrities.

Suchitra Krishnamoorthi got into a war of words with Swara, and Tillotama Shome joined in the debate by supporting Swara.

Last week, Swara had shared a scathing comment on "Padmaavat" in a lengthy post on The Wire, drawing out how the epic drama made her feel reduced to a "vagina only".

Krishnamoorthi had condemned her thought by questioning "aren't these feminist debates on 'Padmaavat' rather dumb?"

"It's a story ladies - not an advocacy of Jauhar for God's sake. Find another battle for your cause - a real one at all. Not historical fiction," she wrote.

In another post, Krishnamoorthi, a singer and former actress, wrote: "Funny that an actress who can play an erotic dancer/prostitute with such elan should feel like a vagina after watching a story of a pious queen. What standards are these ...tch tch."

Swara, who has featured in films like "Raanjhanaa" and "Anarkali of Aarah", gave it back by saying: "Funny that people cannot get over the fact that a woman said vagina! Funny that in a 2440 word article making fairly comprehensible arguments they only remember the word vagina. So... Vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina..vagina vagina VAGINA!"

Tillotama joined in the spat by saying Krishnamoorthi's response is "the opposite of funny".

"Not seen the film yet. But please, an actress can play a prostitute or a 'pious' queen and yet feel like a certain film reduces a woman to just her reproductive function that is vagina. Your response is the opposite of funny. And trust me Swara Bhasker has a sense of humour".

"Padmaavat" has been released after protests by Shri Rajput Karni Sena over alleged distortion of historical facts. Post-release, there have been mixed reviews for the movie, which has been criticised by some sections for glorifying not just Jauhar but also for showing Alauddin Khilji demon-like.

The film, which released on January 25, features actress Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, alongside Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Sultan Alauddin Khilji. Actors Aditi Rao Hydari, Jim Sarbh, Raza Murad and Anupriya Goenka feature in supporting roles.