Director Ali Abbas Zafar on Tuesday evening shared a quick update on the ongoing controversy surrounding his Amazon Prime Video series Tandav.
Zafar revealed that the cast and crew had decided to implement changes based on suggestions by the information & broadcasting ministry.
The statement from the director read, "We have utmost respect for the sentiments of the people in our country. We did not intend to hurt or 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 & crew of Tandav have made the decision to implement changes to the web series to address the concerns raised towards the same. We thank the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting for their guidance & support in the matter. We once again apologize if the series has unintentionally hurt anybody's sentiments (sic)."
— ali abbas zafar (@aliabbaszafar) January 19, 2021
This development comes close on the heels of an earlier update from the director that read, "We just want to share a quick update with everybody. We are in further engagement with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to resolve the concerns that have been raised. We value your continued patience and support, and should have a solution shortly."
We just want to share a quick update with everybody. We are in further engagement with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to resolve the concerns that have been raised. We value your continued patience and support, and should have a solution shortly. https://t.co/Yp8kogTlvs
— ali abbas zafar (@aliabbaszafar) January 18, 2021
The certain scenes from the show created a flutter on social media with netizens condemning them for hurting 'Hindu sentiments'. The filmmaker and the cast tendered an unconditional apology following the outrage.
However, members of the ruling political party weighed in, requesting Union information & broadcasting minister Prakash Javdekar to take cognisance of the matter.
The I&B ministry has also been involved in talks concerning setting up a self-censoring body for OTT platforms over the past few years. In November 2020, the ministry passed an amendment to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules that ensured that news and current affairs content on OTT platforms falls under the purview of the I&B ministry. Earlier in September 2020, 13 OTT platforms had come together to self-regulate content.