Bollywood, with giants on the edge while Amazon is criticized for hurting religious beliefs in India

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Controversy in India over Amazon’s political drama “Tandav” has put Bollywood and the global video streaming giants on alert, leading to a more detailed examination of the scripts for possible offense to religious sentiments in a market. in growth.

Companies like Amazon’s Prime Video and Netflix are inspecting planned shows and scripts, with some even erasing scenes that could be controversial, said five Bollywood directors and producers and two industry sources.

This occurs at a time when Amazon Prime Video is involved in lawsuits and police complaints, claiming that “Tandav” depicts Hindu gods and goddesses in a derogatory way and offends religious beliefs. “Tandav”, a Hindi word that means fury, stars Bollywood actors.

The public outcry against obscenity and religious representations is common in culturally sensitive India, but the “Tandav” issue grew when the police questioned the head of Amazon India’s original content for hours after official complaints.

Fearing arrest, Aparna Purohit filed for early bail, which was rejected by a state court, but the Federal Supreme Court gave protection against her on Friday.

“The scripts are being read and reread now,” said a producer from Bollywood, India’s Indian film industry. “The streaming platforms are examining the content for anything they consider a red flag,” added the producer, declining to be identified.

Amazon has decided to postpone the broadcast of a new season of a popular Hindi spy thriller, “The Family Man,” which was due to be released last month, four sources told Reuters.

The program, says Amazon, is about the efforts of an Indian intelligence officer in his “high-pressure, low-pay job”.

Although Amazon declined to comment, one of the sources said the delay was “a ripple effect of what happened with Tandav”.

Amazon recently issued a public apology “to everyone who was hurt” by “Tandav”, saying that some questionable scenes have been removed.

India, the second most populous nation in the world, with 1.3 billion inhabitants, is a valuable market for Amazon and its rivals Netflix and Disney + Hotstar from Walt Disney Co.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said at an event last year that Prime Video was doing well globally, “but nowhere is it doing better than in India.”

Netflix announced 41 new shows and movies for 2021 in India, against about 30 new titles released in 2020.

‘TOO MUCH RISK’, FEARS OF PRISON

Unlike movies, the content of video streaming platforms currently does not face censorship in India.

But some lawmakers and supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party say that certain programs on Amazon and Netflix promote obscenity or hurt religious beliefs.

A member of the youth wing of the ruling party filed a police complaint against Netflix, contesting scenes from the “A suitable boy” series, which show a Hindu girl kissing a Muslim boy on the backdrop of a Hindu temple.

Netflix is ​​closely following Amazon’s “Tandav” cases, said an entertainment industry source.

Netflix declined to comment.

A scene from “Tandav” removed by Amazon after the release was around a play where a person acting as the Hindu god Shiva seeks suggestions on how to increase his social media after someone says that Lord Ram was becoming very popular online.

Revered characters of faith were “satirized and portrayed very cheaply,” noted the state court judge when he refused Purohit’s request for early bail.

The Supreme Court, however, gave her protection from arrest, subject to her cooperation in the case.

His lawyer said that Amazon was willing to cut more scenes from “Tandav” if desired.

Among the biggest consequences of the controversy is the growing fear of imprisonment. Some producers are asking for clauses in their contracts with streaming services to protect them from lawsuits.

“It is very risky and it is not worth the headache, especially if you are being threatened with imprisonment,” said a producer.