Swara Bhasker’s Negative Post On Vicky Kaushal’s ‘Chhaava’ Leaves Netizens Red-Faced

Mumbai: The Vicky Kaushal and Rashmika Mandanna starrer ‘Chhaava’, which hit theatres on February 14, has struck an emotional chord with the audience and is leaving them teary-eyed.

However, actress Swara Bhasker seems to be not so happy with the emotional response of the audience for the film.

While comparing the torture meted out to the Hindus on-screen in ‘Chhaava’ to the real deaths during the stampede at the Mahakumbh 2025, the actress said that the Indian society is brain-dead as it gets easily moved by filmy scenes and not by the real-life tragedies.

“A society that is more enraged at the heavily embellished partly fictionalised filmy torture of Hindus from 500 years ago than they are at the horrendous death by stampede & mismanagement + then alleged JCB bulldozer handling of corpses – is a brain & soul-dead society. #IYKYK”, wrote Swara on her X handle.

Swara’s bio on X describes her as “sick of the hate & bigotry that is normalised in world, nicer & more patriotic than social media would have you believe.”

The actress’ negative take on movie buffs’ emotional connect with ‘Chhaava’ irked netizens, with many saying it “insulted the sentiments of Indians.”

Reacting to Swara’s post, journalist Swati Chaturvedi wrote, “Rethink, this tweet Swara, I am a student of history from Delhi university & nothing remotely fictional about the torture inflicted by Aurangzeb on Sambhaji Maharaj before he murdered him. Let’s not play games with our history please. One outrage does not preclude the other.”

“Fictionalised filmy torture of Hindus”?! How dare you seek to make light of the supreme sacrifice made by Sambhaji Maharaj – who was brutally tortured and murdered by the wicked Mughal coward Aurangzeb! Swara Bhaskar – your deeply offensive and hurtful statement, that too on the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, is obviously aimed at deliberately insulting the sentiments of millions of Indians and to create strife between religious groups. You, madam, ought to be prosecuted for this criminal offence to the fullest extent permissible under the law,” shared supreme court advocate Jai Anant Dehradai.

Another netizen wrote, “On the contrary, the movie didn’t even show the fraction of torture Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje was subjected to…”

A X user commented, “So now, Hindus caring about their history and reclaiming their narrative = “brain & soul-dead society”? But crying about Mughal glorification, victimhood politics, and fake secularism is “intellectual activism”?”

Directed by Laxman Utekar and produced by Dinesh Vijan, ‘Chhaava’ is a period drama based on the life of Maratha king Sambhaji, the eldest son of Maratha ruler Shivaji Maharaj.

While Vicky plays the titular role, Rashmika plays his wife Maharani Yesubai and Akshaye Khanna portrays the character of Aurangzeb.