Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan’s latest political thriller web series ‘Tandav’, which released on Amazon Prime Video on January 15, is embroiled in drama with the Uttar Pradesh police filing a case against the streaming platform and the show’s makers for allegedly insulting deities and stoking religious enmity.
According to reports, the police case was filed after the centre’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reportedly sought a response from Amazon Prime Video on a complaint filed by Maharashtra Bharatiya Janta Party politician Ram Kadam.
Arrests of Amazon’s Head of India Original Content Aparna Purohit and ‘Tandav’ director Ali Abbas Zafar, producer Himanshu Krishna Mehra and writer Gaurav Solanki are now being sought.
The case was registered by a sub-inspector posted in a Lucknow police station and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s media adviser Shalabh Mani Tripathi shared a copy of it on Twitter. The FIR (First Information Report) stated that the series depicted Hindu deities in a negative light. In the last few days, a boycott of the series has also been trending and BJP leaders have written to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar seeking a ban on the series.
“There is no tolerance for playing with people’s sentiments in Yogi Adityanath’s Uttar Pradesh. A serious case has been registered against the entire team of ‘Tandav’, which is spreading hate in the guise of cheap web series. Prepare for arrest,” Tripathi wrote in Hindi.
‘Tandav’ stars Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Sunil Grover, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Dino Morea, Kumud Mishra, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Gauhar Khan and Kritika Kamra. It opened to mixed reviews and chronicles the games played as the characters navigate the corridors of power and political domination.
Reports claim that security has been beefed up outside the new home of lead actor Khan and his pregnant wife Kareena Kapoor Khan in Mumbai.
It’s not the first time that a series has stoked anger. Another Amazon Prime series ‘Pataal Lok’ also battled similar accusations of hurting religious sentiments.
This is a developing story.
