The director and producers of Amazon Prime Video’s web series, Tandav, on 18th January issued an unconditional apology for the “offensive” content of the series and said that the cast and crew had no intentions to offend any religion or religious beliefs or outrage any institution or political party. Producer Himanshu Mehra and producer-director Ali Abbas Zafar issued a detailed statement on Twitter, hours after representatives of Amazon Prime Video held a virtual meeting with officials of the I & B ministry.
The show ran into controversy on its release on January 15, after BJP legislators filed complaints about the series insulting Hindu Gods and Goddesses. The I & B ministry sought an explanation from Amazon Prime Video representatives.
It may be pointed out that online content was brought within the purview of the I & B ministry in December last year, and the government is currently working on a mechanism to regulate OTT content.
Meanwhile, a case for defamation and hurting religious sentiments was registered against Tandav director Ali Abbas Zafar, and actors Saif Ali Khan and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub on a complaint by BJP MLA Veer Vikram Singh at Katra police station in UP’s Shahjahanpur on January 18.
A four-member police team from Lucknow left for Bombay on 18th to investigate into another FIR lodged at Lucknow’s Hazratganj police station against the producers of the web series for “promoting enmity on grounds of religion”. Meanwhile, BSP chief Mayawati also demanded that “objectionable scenes” should be deleted to maintain peace in the country.