A Bollywood film released today has been called the “most insensitive film of the year,” for reducing the Holocaust to a plot device.
In Bawaal, released today on Amazon Prime, the central couple’s marital issues are compared to the Shoah. This metaphor culminates in the couple being told that “every relationship goes through its Auschwitz”.
The film, which was granted special permission to shoot at the concentration camp, also features a scene in which the protagonists enter a gas chamber. They are suffocated by pesticides while wearing striped clothes.
Hitler is also used as a metaphor for human greed in the film, with Ajju, the protagonist, saying to his wife: “We’re all a little like Hitler, aren’t we?”
They also pay a visit to the Anne Frank House, where Ajju asks his wife, played by Janhvi Kapoor, what she would do with only one day left to live. “After visiting Anne Frank’s house, some philosophy is to be expected,” he says. The following conversation is used to introduce a romantic development.
Some people have also criticised Amazon for releasing Nitesh Tiwari’s film.
Filming for Bawaal began in 2022, and took place across Europe. The story revolves around Ajju and his wife Nisha’s relationship, which is saved as they visit historic sites of the Second World War.
