Tandav row: Ali Abbas Zafar apologises for hurting religious sentiments, says series is 'a work of fiction'

The director and creator of Amazon Prime series Tandav has issued an apology on his social media handles, following a controversy regarding the contents of the series that have resulted in an FIR being filed in UP.

Our sincere apologies . pic.twitter.com/Efr9s0kYnl

— ali abbas zafar (@aliabbaszafar) January 18, 2021

The statement reads:

We have been closely monitoring viewer reactions to the web series ‘Tandav’ and today during a discussion, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting have informed us regarding a large number of grievances and petitions received on various facets of the web series with serious concerns and apprehensions regarding its content hurting the sentiments of the people.

The web series ‘Tandav’ is a work of fiction and any resemblance to acts and persons and events is purely coincidental. The cast and crew did not have any intention to offend the sentiments of any individual, caste, community, race, religion or religious beliefs or insult or outrage any institution, political party or person, living or dead. The cast and crew of ‘Tandav’ take cognizance of the concerns expressed by the people and unconditionally apologize if it has unintentionally hurt anybody’s sentiments.

Earlier on Monday, 18 January, an FIR has been filed in Lucknow, UP against the makers and actors of Amazon Prime Video series Tandav for promoting enmity, offending religious sentiments and causing public mischief via the contents in the show, Lucknow Police has said.

Lucknow deputy commissioner of police (Central) Somen Barma said, “The FIR [lodged at the Hazratganj police station on Sunday] has been lodged against Aparna Purohit, an official of Amazon, series director Ali Abbas Zafar, producer Himashu Krishna Mehra, its writer Gaurav Solanki, and others.”

The case has been registered under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups), 295 (defiling place of worship with intent to insult religion), 505 (statement conducing public mischief), 469 (forgery on purpose of harming reputation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of the IT Act, Hindustan Times reports.

BJP leader Kapil Mishra also asked for the removal Tandav from its library, Asian News International reports. Mishra also said that if the platform does not comply, criminal proceedings will be initiated against them.

The government recently brought OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar, besides other online news and current affairs content, under the ambit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, giving it powers to regulate policies and rules for the digital space.