Nitesh Tiwari on Bawaal: ‘Had to remove Jallianwala Bagh reference because of Sardar Udham’

The Bawaal trailer, which was released on YouTube a few days ago, left many viewers confused with its comparison between a love story to World War II. The teaser as well as the trailer gave a glimpse of both Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor’s characters being caught inside gas chambers like the ones that were within the Holocaust. In a new interview, director Nitesh Tiwari opened up about the reactions for the first time and said that the earlier draft of the film had a reference to the Jallianwalah Bagh massacre, which had to be removed after Shoojit Sircar’s 2021 film Sardar Udham. (Also read: Bawaal trailer: Twitter confused with Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor’s love story: ‘Hitler kaha se aaya?’)

About Bawaal trailer

In the Bawaal trailer, Varun is seen as a small-town guy who marries Janhvi Kapoor. The two have nothing in common. Then they take a trip to Europe and explore places like Paris and other spots that were at the centre of World War II. The historical event is used as a recurring reference in the trailer, as the characters speak of a “world war within.”

Nitesh Tiwari on keeping the World War II in script

In a new interview with Galatta Plus, Nitesh Tiwari addressed the use of the Holocaust imagery in the film and said, “So we did think about that, it is not that we did not think about that. In fact it would have been easy to incorporate in our storyline. Rather than him (Varun’s character) teaching World War II, he could have been teaching any of our historical stuff. My biggest thing was that there was something fresh that I always crave to bring to my audiences. Both story-wise as well as visually. And, there has been such lovely stuff that has already been done, and in plenty of numbers by some of our very renowned filmmakers on the historical wars that our country has been a part of. I personally felt that I would not be able to bring anything new on screen if I were to do that.”

Adding to the response, Nitesh also said that the script had to go through some changes after the release of Sardar Udham. “In one of the earlier drafts, there was a reference to Jallianwala Bagh. Which, I removed after Udham Singh (Sardar Udham) came. It no longer remained fresh,” he added. Janhvi also said in the same interview that the element of human greed was where the metaphor of World War II came from.

Shoojit Sircar’s Sardar Udham traced the life and struggles of Sardar Udham Singh, a freedom fighter who is best known for killing Michael O’Dwyer in retaliation for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It starred Vicky Kaushal in the lead and received critical acclaim. It released on October 16, 2021.

Bawaal hits Prime Video India on July 21.