OTT platforms in India are growing rapidly in terms of content and viewership due to many factors. Digital India plays a major role in promoting the use of OTT platforms to stream a variety of content from around the world. The number of targeted youth has led to an increase in viewing of OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney’s Hotstar, YouTube, etc. But as there is no censorship body governing the content therefore again the creativity v/s censorship or restriction debate is back. This time Amazon Prime Video’s political drama, ‘Tandav‘ has run into trouble. Earlier same happened with ‘The Suitable Boy’, ‘Mirzapur’ and many more.

Cast and Genre:

Thriller Action Political drama

Tandav is a fascinating Indian political web series on Amazon Prime Video, developed, directed and produced by Ali Abbas Zafar, in his digital debut, with a script written by Gaurav Solanki. The series features co-stars Saif Ali Khan, Sunil Grover, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Dimple Kapadia, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Dino Morea and Anup Soni. The series is about the dark areas of Indian politics, where people will go far in the pursuit of power.

Picture courtesy : Amazon Prime VideoIN

Controversy:

The series became controversial as several leaders of the Baratiya Janata Party demanded a ban and accused the makers and actors of harming Hindu religious sentiments and mocking Hindu God Shiva in one of the episodes and also describing them as fighting Dalit. After the debate, Ali Abbas Zafar offered an unconditional apology on behalf of the actors and actors of the show, saying he would make changes to the web series due to complaints raised by the Department of Information and Broadcasting regarding certain parts of the program. FIRs were placed separately in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra under sections 153A and 295 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

After a major explosion against the web series, actors and crews issued an apology note. An official statement from the actors and actors at Tandav said that Tandav is a work of fiction and that any similarity of actions with people and events occurs by chance. The actors and actresses had no intention of provoking anyone’s anger.

Where does public stand?

By google ratings

‘Amateurish, stereotyped, tacky, disconnected, unrealistically glamorized, and with no nuance, Tandav is yet another example of the representation of Indian politics in OTT shows — over the top.’ Politics in India is intricately complex — a blend of gritty, getting-hands-dirty grassroots electoral competition that involves devising the right messaging and perception management as well as the art of making friends, forging alliances, staying a step ahead of the rest and strategizing. Politics is subtle and larger-than-life, crafty and well-meaning. There is polarization and amalgamation, just as there is black and white that often yields an unpredictable, fuzzy shade of grey.

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