Trouble continues with more FIRs
HC relief for writer, producer and director
Mumbai, Jan. 20: At least two scenes were removed from the controversial web series Tandav, which found itself in more trouble on Wednesday with fresh FIRs against its makers and cast in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
In a sliver of hope, the Bombay High Court granted transit pre-arrest bail to director Ali Abbas Zafar, Amazon Prime India head Aparna Purohit, producer Himanshu Mehra and the show’s writer Gaurav Solanki. The relief was granted for three weeks to enable them to approach the concerned court in Lucknow, where an FIR has been registered against them for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
A scene of a play and a conversation between two key characters were snipped from the show’s first episode Tanashah, a day after the cast and crew of the nine-part starry political saga on Amazon Prime Video once again apologised and said they had decided to implement changes to address the concerns raised.
At the centre of the row over the show, which has hit national headlines with calls for boycotts, FIRs and protests over its alleged depiction of Hindu deities, was a scene with Zeeshan Ayyub in the role of college student Shiva playing the Hindu god Mahadeva (another name for Lord Shiva) in a play. A conversation between Lord Shiva and Narad Muni in the theatre production raised hackles.
That scene has gone. Viewers now see Zeeshan’s entry on stage as Mahadev amid cheers from the audience and the scene then abruptly shifts to police entering the campus to arrest a student. Also gone is a conversation depicting the character of prime minister Devki Nandan Singh, played by Tigmanshu Dhulia, insulting Dalit leader Kailash Kumar, enacted by Anup Soni.