Nitesh Tiwari talks about Bawaal criticism: Only a small section of people questioned it

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Nitesh Tiwari commented on the criticism around his film Bawaal. His latest outing Tumse Na Ho Payega released on Sept 29.

Nitesh Tiwari is back with his latest outing, Tumse Na Ho Payega after all the mixed reviews to his previous directorial Bawaal. During the promotion of the film, Nitesh who wrote Tumse Na Ho Payega, opened up about the criticism of Bawaal. Nitesh said, “There is only a small section of people who questioned Bawaal.”

Nitesh Tiwari compared reactions to Bawaal and Tumse Na Ho Payega. (Photo by SUJIT JAISWAL / AFP)(AFP)

Nitesh Tiwari on Bawaal reactions

“People were overtly nitpicking what I would say. Predominately the kind of feedback I got was very very positive. People who consumed it, had it the way it should have been consumed, rather than overly nitpicking. But, having said that, no offence, people can nitpick also. I respect their opinion because that is exactly what it is when you put out a work in a public forum. You have to be ready for all kinds of reactions. It’s great learning also, from all of that. I take it all in the right spirit. I try to learn as to how can I improve things going forward,” he added.

Tumse Na Ho Payega

While Bawal was criticised by many in India and overseas, Tumse Na Ho Payega found its place, in the hearts of the viewers, after releasing on September 29 on Disney+ Hotstar. Directed by Abhishek Sinha, the film stars Ishwak Singh, Mahima Makwana, Gaurav Pandey and Gurpreet Saini.

Nitesh commented, “The kind of reactions we are getting now on Tumse Na Ho Payega is very very heartening. When you are creating something you can only hope, you can never be certain. You never know how people are going to react to something you are creating out of thin air. But I am very happy with the kind of positive response and the way people are relating to Tumse Na Ho Payega.”

For the unversed, Bawaal stars Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Dhawan as a married couple with a strained relationship who take on a journey in Europe. The film was slammed by many after its digital release for scenes that drew inspiration from the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz. Those who watched it even called the film ‘far-fetched and insensitive’ for portraying a parallel between the lead pair's romance and World War II. Hitler is also used as a metaphor for human greed in the film.

Apart from this, dialogues like “Every relationship goes through its Auschwitz” and “We are All Little Like Hitler” were also widely disapproved by people on social media. Even a Jewish organisation wrote an open letter to Prime Video seeking the removal of the movie.