FIR against Tandav in G Noida
They have made derogatory comments against lower caste people. The series has also depicted Hindu deities in bad light with ill intention. BALBEER AZAD, complainant
GREATER NOIDA: A fresh FIR has been filed against the makers and actors of the newly released web series ‘Tandav’ for inappropriate depiction of Uttar Pradesh Police personnel and hurting religious sentiments and social beliefs, the police said. The case was registered at Rabupura police station in Greater Noida on Monday even as the makers issued an unconditional apology on Monday, saying they did not intend to offend sentiments of any caste, community, or religion.
The complainant, Balbeer Azad, is a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) member and social activist. Azad, 60, said the depiction of men in Uttar Pradesh police uniform using abusive language and drinking in their van prompted him to lodge the case.
“They have made derogatory comments against lower caste people which is not good for our society. The web series has also depicted Hindu deities in a bad light with an ill intention,” he said.
He also said the depiction of the Prime Minister in the web series amounts to an “attack on the democratic system”.
‘Tandav’ is a nine-episode Hindi political web series streaming on Amazon Prime Video from January 15.
In his complaint, Azad, who said a part of the web series was shot in his native Rabupura area of Greater Noida, has named series director Ali Abbas Zafar; Aparna Purohit, head of India Originals at Amazon Prime Video; producer Himanshu Krishna Mehra; writer Gaurav Solanki; and actors Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Sunil Grover .
The police registered the case against the seven people named in Azad’s complaint under Indian Penal Code sections 153-A(1)(b) (promoting enmity), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 505 (1)(b) (intent to cause, or which is likely to cause fear or alarm), and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Information Technology Act.
“The complainant has alleged that the web series invokes Dalit insult, caste differences, hurts religious sentiments, and also shows people holding constitutional posts in bad lights. The police are conducting investigation into the matter,” said Rajesh Kumar Singh, deputy commissioner of police, Greater Noida.
On Sunday, the police in Lucknow had registered a first information report against Purohit, Abbas, and Mehra, among others, on charges of promoting enmity between different groups and insulting religion.
‘Tandav’ director Zafar on Monday had tweeted an apology.
There was no immediate response from the officials of Amazon Prime Video to the fresh case.