Tandav row: Govt seeks Amazon Prime's reply

Taking cognisance of complaints that Hindu gods and goddesses have allegedly been ridiculed in the Web series Tandav, the ministry of information and broadcasting on Sunday sought an explanation from streaming platform Amazon Prime Video on the issue, sources said.

The development came after Bharatiya Janata Party MP Manoj Kotak on Sunday said he has written to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar seeking a ban on Tandav for ridiculing Hindu deities.

Tandav premiered on Amazon Prime Video on Friday.

Ali Abbas Zafar has created, directed and produced the political drama written by Gaurav Solanki, best known for Article 15.

"The ministry has taken cognisance of the matter (complaints) and asked Amazon Prime Video to explain," a source in the ministry said.

Kotak, the Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai North-East, alleged that attempts are often made on such platforms to not show Hindu deities in good light.

Different organisations and individuals, Kotak said, have complained that Hindu gods and goddesses have been ridiculed in Tandav.

"Hence, we have made a demand to Javadekarji and have written to him to ban the WEeb series immediately. The actors, producers and directors should apologise for hurting sentiments," Kotak added.

Sharing an image of his letter to Javadekar on Twitter, Kotak said as there is no law or an autonomous body governing digital content and films on such platforms are full of sex, violence, drugs, abuse, hate and vulgarity.

"Sometimes, they also hurt religious sentiments," he added.

It seems that makers of Tandav have deliberately mocked Hindu gods and disrespected Hindu religious sentiments, Kotak said in the letter dated January 16.

Another politician, Ram Kadam, the BJP MLA from Ghatkopar West in north east Mumbai, also asked Director Zafar to remove the portion of the Web series in which Lord Shiva is allegedly ridiculed.

Kadam said he has filed a complaint in this connection at the Ghatkopar police station.

Amazon Prime Video said the platform "won't be responding" on the matter.

The government recently brought OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar, besides other online news and current affairs content, under the information and broadcasting ministry's ambit, giving it powers to regulate policies and rules for the digital space.