ANOTHER FIR AGAINST MAKERS, ARTISTES OF TANDAV WEB SERIES IN UP

NOIDA: Trouble does not seem to end for makers and artistes of Amazon Prime’s web series “Tandav” as another FIR was lodged against them, this time in Greater Noida, police said on Tuesday.

This is at least the third FIR to be filed in Uttar Pradesh in connection with the series.

The complainant in the fresh case, lodged around 10pm on Monday, alleges inappropriate depiction of UP Police personnel, Hindu deities, and adverse portrayal of a character playing the prime minister in the political drama, according to the FIR.

In the latest FIR at Rabupura in Greater Noida, the accused have been booked, among others, under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, according to the FIR accessed by PTI.

In Lucknow, Samajwadi Party president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav accused the government of creating a big fuss over the show, calling it a “minor” web series.

His statement came in the wake of the information and broadcasting ministry seeking an explanation from the OTT platform over the series. “What is Tandav?” he told reporters here to a question over the con

troversy. “It is a minor series. And you are creating a ‘tandav’ (a dance form associated with Hindu god Lord Shiva) over it.”

The latest FIR against the show names as accused the series’ director Ali Abbas Zafar, Amazon Prime’s India head Aparna Purohit, producer Himanshu Kishan Mehra, writer Gaurav Solanki and actors Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Sunil Grover. Greater Noida deputy commissioner of police Rajesh Kumar Singh said, “A local resident has made a complaint at the Rabupura police station in Greater Noida over depiction of Dalit insult, casteism and content inflammatory to religious sentiments in the web series ‘Tandav’ besides showing people on high-positions engaging in inappropriate talks.” “An FIR has been lodged against the director of the web series, Amazon Prime’s India head, the actors and writer. Since the SC/ST Act has also been invoked in the FIR, a gazetted officer will probe the case,” Singh added. The FIR has been lodged under Indian Penal Code’s sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 505(1)-1B (making any statement, rumour or report with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public), 505(2) (statements conducing to public mischief).

Charges under the Information Technology Act have also been invoked in the case, according to the FIR. The cast and crew of “Tandav” had on Monday issued an “unconditional apology” if their fictional show had unintentionally hurt sentiments.

On Monday, an FIR each was lodged against the show at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow and Katra police station in Shahjahanpur.