Bawaal director Nitesh Tiwari on audience response to film's Holocaust imagery: 'You have only seen 2 shots' | Exclusive

Nitesh Tiwari is returning to direction with the upcoming romantic drama Bawaal. The film, which stars Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor as a married couple, has been talked about since its teaser was launched last week. The talking point was a couple of shots that seemed to show the characters in gas chambers, similar to the ones used in the Holocaust. Even as the trailer was launched on Sunday, audience response was one of confusion as many struggled to reconcile how Holocaust fits a romantic drama.

On the sideline of the trailer launch in Dubai, Tiwari and the film’s stars – Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor – spoke to DNA about the film and this response to the teaser. When asked about how he made sure merging one of the biggest human tragedies with a relationship’s issues was done sensitively, Tiwai responded, “It sometimes boils down to the value system that you have made for yourself. If you look at the kind of films I have been a part of, that should also tell you and give you some reassurance that this would also have been handled with utmost care.”

Addressing some people’s confused reactions and comments to the teaser, the filmmaker added, “All I can say is you have only seen two shots. You don’t even know what has happened before that or what’s going to happen after that and what is the context of it all. I don’t want to be a spoilsport for the film. There is a reason why everything is happening in the film and as I said, it is pretty meaningful.” Varun added, “I think people are confused how a love story fits with this tragedy and how the two are there together. It’s like a math problem that people are unable to solve. I have been reading the theories also that have been very amusing as well.”

Janhvi Kapoor added that the audience should not feel they would ‘trivilaise’ the war or human tragedy. Her co-star Varun Dhawan added, “We didn’t get a chance to read much but that was one of the takeaways. Let the film come out, so if we actually say what is happening or what stuff leads to what is happening, there is no point putting out a trailer then.”

Bawaal, produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, will be premiering on Prime Video on July 21.