Tandav row: All you need to know about controversies surrounding Saif Ali Khan's Amazon show
Hindustan TimesOn Monday, Tandav creator-director Ali Abbas Zafar apologised for having unintentionally hurt the sentiments of a certain section of the audience, but not before police complaints had been made against him and his cast. The complaints Bharatiya Janata Party MP Manoj Kotak wrote to Information and Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar seeking a ban on the series for allegedly ridiculing Hindu deities. An FIR was registered against Amazon India original content head Aparna Purohit, creator Ali, producer Himanshu Krishna Mehra, writer Gaurav Solanki and others at the Hazratganj police station of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow deputy commissioner of police Somen Barma said. "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 statement read. In November, the Union government brought streaming video services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hotstar, and news websites under the ambit of the Information & Broadcasting ministry for regulation, issuing a notification that will now allow the latter to draft rules that could have a far-reaching impact on popular channels of digital content.