'Bawaal' started streaming on Amazon Prime last Friday.
A Jewish organisation has written to Amazon Prime asking the streaming service to remove Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor-starrer 'Bawaal' from the platform for its "insensitive portrayal" of the Holocaust. Jewish right organisation Simon Wiesenthal Centre has said in its complaint that the film trivilalises the "suffering and systemic murder of millions", according to a BBC report. However, Mr Dhawan has spoken on the backlash the film is facing on the issue, pointing out that the said scene showed his "tone-deaf character" in negative light.
The film released on Prime Video last Friday and some critics slammed the dialogue that draws a parallel between the main character's love story and the Holocaust.
But the Simon Wiesenthal Centre said that Auschwitz should not be used as a metaphor as it's a "quintessential example of man's capacity for evil".
"By having the protagonist in this movie declare that 'Every relationship goes through their Auschwitz', Nitesh Tiwari, trivialises and demeans the memory of six million murdered Jews and millions of others who suffered at the hands of Hitler's genocidal regime," the Jewish organisation said in a statement on Tuesday.
"If the filmmaker's goal was to gain PR for their movie by reportedly filming a fantasy sequence at the Nazi death camp, he has succeeded," it added.
The statement also asked Amazon Prime to "stop monetising" the film and immediately remove it from its platform.
One of the scenes of the movie features the Holocaust as a plot point, comparing a troubled marriage to Hitler's regime and concentration camps like Auschwitz. It also features like this one spoken by Janhvi Kapoor's character: "Hum sab bhi toh thode bahut Hitler jaise hi hai na (we all are a little bit like Hitler)."
Speaking to Pinkvilla, Varun Dhawan, who played the lead character of Ajay Dixit (Ajju Bhaiyya), pointed out that his character is meant to be grey.
"I respect the criticism. What I don't understand like how Sir (Nitesh Tiwari) said that it's a context and the protagonist is from Lucknow and it's showing that the character which is Ajju Bhaiya is initially a tone-deaf character. This is how it has been shown and it's not showing the character as a hero but as a negative. That's why all the praise is coming for the character that a hero for the first time gets to do a negative character. So the character is supposed to be negative. So the way Nisha (Janhvi's character) will explain him in a way that he should understand," he said.
"Secondly, I respect everyone's opinions and everyone has a right to have an opinion. Some people got triggered and sensitive about this but I don't understand where that sensitivity or the trigger goes when they watch an English film. They are allowed to do and show everything and you will find that in a correct way," the actor added.
Director Nitesh Tiwari had said that films should not be viewed with a "magnifying glass" because then "you'll find problems with every piece of work created".