MUMBAI: The cast and crew of a popular streaming series starring Bollywood megastar Saif Ali Khan have agreed to 鈥渋mplement changes鈥� to the show after ruling party politicians accused it of insulting Hindu gods.
The Amazon Prime drama 鈥淭andav鈥� 鈥� loosely compared to the US series 鈥淗ouse of Cards鈥� 鈥� drew criticism from members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi鈥檚 Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party after its Friday release.
Several BJP politicians called for the show to be banned, saying it was 鈥渄eliberately mocking Hindu gods鈥� and disrespecting religious sentiments.
One of the criticized scenes depicts a university play in which Hindu deity Shiva talks about 鈥渁zaadi鈥� (freedom), a rallying cry from 2019鈥檚 anti-government protests across the country.
鈥淭he cast and crew of Tandav have made the decision to implement changes to the web series to address the concerns raised,鈥� director Ali Abbas Zafar wrote in a post on Twitter late Tuesday.
The cast and crew also apologized on Monday, with Zafar saying that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had told the team it had received 鈥渁 large number of grievances and petitions... with serious concerns and apprehensions鈥� over the series.
鈥溾€橳andav鈥� is a work of fiction and any resemblance to acts and persons and events is purely coincidental,鈥� he said Monday.
The petitioners include Ram Kadam, a BJP lawmaker in Mumbai, who said he was 鈥渇ighting for Hindu pride and trying to ensure that nobody dare to mock our Hindu Gods.鈥�
Leading streaming platforms, including Netflix, Amazon and Disney鈥檚 Hotstar, have expanded their presence in the country of 1.3 billion, including by commissioning local content.
The streaming TV services are not subject to the country鈥檚 notoriously fussy censor boards, which regularly cut scenes.
But there have been growing calls, particularly from BJP politicians, for the shows to be subject to the same scrutiny.
The most recent controversy involved the BBC鈥檚 TV version of Vikram Seth鈥檚 epic bestselling novel, 鈥淎 Suitable Boy,鈥� which is streaming on Netflix, over a scene where a Hindu girl kisses a Muslim boy in front of a temple.
A BJP politician in November filed a police complaint saying the show had hurt Hindus鈥� religious sentiments.