New Delhi: Soon after its release, the much-awaited political-drama ‘Tandav’ starring Saif Ali Khan and Dimple Kapadia landed into a pool of controversies. Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, the web-series released on the OTT platform Amazon Prime Video on January 15, 2021.
The viewers of ‘Tandav’ are alleging that Lord Shiva and Lord Ram have been insulted in the very first episode of the web series. They have also been appealing to the Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar to ban the web series.
According to the latest report, a criminal complaint has been filed in a court in Delhi against the web series. The petition alleges that ‘Tandav’ incites communal disharmony and hurts Hindu sentiments.
A report in ANI reads, “Delhi: A criminal complaint has been filed in a court against web series 'Tandav'; the petition alleges that the series incites communal disharmony and hurts sentiments of Hindus”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Delhi: A criminal complaint has been filed in a court against web series 'Tandav'; the petition alleges that the series incites communal disharmony and hurts sentiments of Hindus</p>— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://news.abplive.com/entertainment/ssr-death-case-bombay-high-court-rules-media-trial-during-investigation-impacts-investigation-follow-press-council-of-india-guidelines-1439884">January 18, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A complaint has been filed before a Delhi Court against web series <a >#Tandav</a> for promoting enmity between religious groups, ridiculing Hindu religion and targetting Uttar Pradesh government. <br><br>Complaint by Hindu Sena founder member Vishnu Gupta. <a >#TandavOnPrime</a> <a >pic.twitter.com/1Am16nmhTT</a></p>— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) <a >January 18, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has sought an explanation from the online streaming platform Amazon Prime Video. It issued a notice to the same in response to the complaints filed against the ‘Tandav’ web series for hurting religious sentiments and denigrating Hindu gods and goddesses.
The government recently brought OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar under the ambit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting thereby giving it powers to regulate policies and rules for the digital space.
On a related note, other than Saif Ali Khan and Dimple Kapadia, ‘Tandav’ also stars an ensemble cast of Sunil Grover, Zeeshan Ayyub, Gauahar Khan, Kritika Kamra, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Dino Morea, Kumud Mishra, Amyra Dastur, Sarah Jane Dias, Sandhya Mridul, Annup Sonii, Hitten Ttejwani, Paresh Pahuja and Shonali Nagrani among others.
Stay tuned for more updates.