Amid the growing controversy surrounding Amazon Prime’s web series ‘Tandav,’ Ali Abbas Zafar, Director of the series, issued an unconditional public apology on Twitter.
“Our sincere apologies,” Ali tweeted while sharing an official statement from the cast and crew of Tandav.
Our sincere apologies . pic.twitter.com/Efr9s0kYnl
— ali abbas zafar (@aliabbaszafar) January 18, 2021
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh Police had filed a case against its makers and head of the platform airing it following complaints from a cross-section of leaders who waved the red flag against certain scenes allegedly insulting Hindu gods.
An FIR was lodged at Lucknow’s Hazratganj Police Station and invokes stringent sections of IPC for allegedly promoting enmity on grounds of religion and defiling place of worship, and specifically named the Director, Producer and ‘Tandav’ show writer along with Amazon’s India Head of Original Content.
A copy of the FIR was shared on Twitter by Shalabh Mani Tripathi, media advisor to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
जन भावनाओं के साथ खिलवाड़ बर्दाश्त नहीं, घटिया वेब सीरीज की आड़ मं नफरत फैलाने वाली वेब सीरीज तांडव की पूरी टीम के खिलाफ योगीजी के उत्तर प्रदेश में गंभीर धाराओं में मामला दर्ज, जल्द गिरफ्तारी की तैयारी !! pic.twitter.com/V9ZewGNOHw
— Shalabh Mani Tripathi (@shalabhmani) January 18, 2021
“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,” he wrote in Hindi.
Meanwhile, after several leaders spoke out against ‘Tandav’ and BJP MP Manoj Kotak wrote to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar appealing for a ban on the web series for disrespecting Hindu deities, the I&B Ministry also issued a notice to Amazon Prime over ‘Tandav’ on Sunday.
My letter to Hon.minister @PrakashJavdekar ji regarding regulation of the OTT platforms pic.twitter.com/twwI6OP4iM
— Manoj Kotak (@manoj_kotak) January 17, 2021
The scene in the web series which has stoked controversy revolves around a stage play where the actor is dressed as Lord Shiva. The sequence talks about how Lord Ram has become more popular today.
‘Tandav’ stars Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Sunil Grover, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Dino Morea, Kumud Mishra, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Gauhar Khan and Kritika Kamra, and premiered on Amazon Prime on Friday.
‘Tandav’ has been created, directed and produced by filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar with Himanshu Kishan Mehra and written by Gaurav Solanki of ‘Article 15’ fame.