Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra on Tuesday, 19 January, said that the state government would take action against director Ali Abbas Zafar's new Amazon Prime Video web series Tandav for hurting religious sentiments.
He said that the government is considering calling for a ban on the show and will also request the central government to institute a censorship policy for web series.
"I condemn the way Zeeshan Ayyub, Saif Ali Khan, Ali Abbas Zafar reacted to our religious sentiments. MP government will register a case, (we're) thinking of banning it. We'll request the Centre for a policy to restrict web series that use vulgar language and attack religious sentiments," news agency ANI quoted the MP home minister as saying.
Tandav, which features Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub in lead roles, has faced incessant backlash after BJP leaders alleged a scene in the show mocked Shiva and hurt the sentiments of Hindus. Several complaints have been filed seeking action against the show, including two separate criminal complaints before courts in Delhi and Bihar and an FIR in Lucknow's Hazratganj Kotwali.
Zafar issued a statement of apology on Monday, 18 January, following a meeting with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, which sought an explanation from Amazon Prime Video after taking cognisance of the complaints the series has received. Speaking on behalf of the show's cast and crew, maintained that the series was fictional and that neither the cast nor the crew had intended to offend anyone.
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