Saif Ali Khan's web show Tandav is currently facing the heat. The Ali Abbas Zafar directorial has landed in troubled waters for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. Several politicians filed an FIR against the show, its makers, director and actors. After being summoned by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting for an explanation, Ali issued a statement and apologised on behalf of the producers, cast and crew.
Now, as the controversy continues affecting the run of Tandav on Amazon Prime Video, a source from the team told a leading daily, "The team offered to tender an apology, which appeared to satisfy the ministry for the time being. Soon after, the head honchos of the platform had another meeting with the key players of Amazon US, and drafted the official statement in consultation with them and creative stakeholders, including director Ali Abbas Zafar and producer Himanshu Sharma."
The source further added that the team is reportedly planning to snip the controversial scene and also rename the show. "They are considering snipping the scene as the last resort. An internal discussion has begun about rechristening the show Dilli, thus avoiding any reference to Lord Shiva," the source added.
For the unversed, several politicians and viewers took offence to a scene in which Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub is dressed as Lord Shiva and used an abusive word. People slammed the show for mocking and insulting Hindu Gods. Ali, in the statement, mentioned, "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 apologise if it has unintentionally hurt anybody's sentiments."
(Source: Mid-Day)
