Tillotama Shome on Swara Bhasker: The reasons for the backlash that she’s receiving are lame

‘Hindi Medium’ actress Tillotama Shome feels that Swara Bhasker has the right to express herself, as earlier Swara Bhasker had written an open letter on her opinions on ‘Padmaavat’. The actress questioned the act of sati and jauhar in the film. Tillotama also felt that the backlash she is facing is very lame and warped. One can only say that what they liked it or not. She also expressed that people need to expand their boundaries.


The actress said, “Swara has the right to express herself in what she felt in watching a film. It could be this film or any other one for that matter. It could be another woman or even a man who felt that the representation of a certain character was reductive. The reasons for the backlash, that she’s receiving for expressing herself, are lame. One can say that they didn’t like what she wrote. But if they say she can’t say things because she played an erotic dancer in a film (referring to Suchitra Krishnamoorthi’s tweet), then it is warped.”


The actress concluded by saying, “I would really like to be in a place that celebrates masculinity, femininity, and androgyny with grace. We need to expand our boundaries where we are not talking about what is it to be a man or a woman. We need to have a sense of inclusion and an expansive sense of self that is not so gendered.”