In Jawani Diwani, which came out almost twenty years ago, Celina Jaitly is taking back her voice and sharing her story of emotional betrayal, both as an actor and as Roma Fernandez. Celina said in a heartbreaking post that the movie’s initial promise to show a woman’s emotional journey was abandoned in favor of a spectacle that was primarily focused on men.
On Tuesday, Celina shared a reel on her Instagram of her and Emraan Hashmi’s scenes from Jawani Diwani, captioning the post as, “If I had directed this film, I would have told it from the perspective of the heart, from a place of raw, real emotion. I would never have allowed HER: ROMA FERNANDEZ to settle for someone who hurt her, used her, and diminished her worth. I would have honoured her journey, just as I was promised during the director’s narration.”
She adds, “But just like my character was betrayed in the story, I too was betrayed, as an actor. What was meant to be her story became all about him, the serial kisser, while the woman who was kissed and believed it was love was pushed aside.”
Celina also clarified that her post was not against her co-star Emraan, but the makers of the film. “This is not against my amazing co-star; this is against the mentality of the makers at the time, who chose spectacle over sincerity and diluted a woman’s voice for commercial convenience.”
Emraan Hashmi, Celina, Hrishitaa Bhatt, Tiku Talsania, and Mahesh Manjrekar played important parts in the Manish Sharma-directed movie. The film, which is well-known for its upbeat music and witty humor, tells the tale of a carefree aspiring singer who is torn between love, ambition, and complex relationships.
The film’s plot and character portrayal, especially how it handled the female lead’s development, drew mixed reviews. It’s been a while since Celina appeared on the big screen. 2011 saw the actor’s final big-screen appearance in the Kannada movie Shrimathi. In addition, Prem Chopra, Sayaji Shinde, Rekha Das, and Upendra and Priyanka Trivedi played supporting parts in the movie.