[Artists say officials tied to the
country’s ruling party use pressure to stem criticism. Streaming services
hoping to tap the Indian market’s potential have been caught in the middle.]
By Jeffrey Gettleman and Suhasini Raj
Two separate criminal complaints were
filed with the police over the weekend against the makers of “Tandav,” a splashy new big-budget web series on Amazon. The
fast-paced political drama, which seems to borrow heavily from India’s
political scene, may cut uncomfortably close to current events and the
country’s biggest controversies.
The complainants, which include a
politician with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, have insisted that the
government pull the series off the air or take out key scenes. Among other
objections, they accused the series of disrespecting Hindu gods, belittling
members of individual castes and sullying the office of the prime minister.
If the police find merit to the
complaints, Amazon and the show’s promoters could wind up in criminal court.
Ali Abbas Zafar, the director of
“Tandav,” on Monday posted a statement on his Instagram account saying the show
“is a work of fiction and any resemblance to acts and persons and events is
purely coincidental.” However, the statement said, the cast and crew “take
cognizance of the concerns expressed by the people and unconditionally
apologize if it has unintentionally hurt anybody’s sentiments.”
Officials at Amazon have declined
to comment.
Defenders of the show say those complaints
are pretexts. The pressure on Amazon to drop the series, they say, is part of
an increasingly intolerant atmosphere in India that affects even Bollywood,
India’s film and entertainment industry. Actors, comedians, producers, artists
and anyone who dares to question the government, even indirectly, can find
their careers in peril, they say.
“When you take a stand, you have to
pay a price,” said Sushant Singh, a Bollywood actor who has openly campaigned
against several of the government’s policies. “One doesn’t even get surprised
these days. And one does not know how to react anymore.”
These attitudes complicate the
ambitions of both Bollywood studios and major companies to capture a huge
Indian audience through their laptops and smartphones. Like the Hollywood film
industry, Bollywood has increasingly turned to streaming as pandemic
restrictions slam the theater business.
Global companies are helping to
provide the platforms for Indian viewers. Major streaming services like Amazon,
Netflix and Hotstar, which is owned by Disney, have
invested heavily in a country they see as holding great growth
potential.
But they have been caught up at
times in India’s increasingly restrictive political environment.
Two months ago, an on-screen kiss
put Netflix into a similar bind. Hindu nationalists were outraged that a
series on Netflix showed a Hindu woman kissing a Muslim man in front of a Hindu
temple — a scene that the Hindu nationalists felt violated multiple
taboos. The Hindu nationalists have demanded the authorities investigate
Netflix and have called for a boycott. No charges have been filed.
The true objection to “Tandav” may
simply be that it’s too real. The opening episode looks almost like a newsreel.
It cuts from farmer protests to student protests to police killings — all
events that have happened in recent months under the administration of Narendra
Modi, India’s Hindu nationalist prime minister.
It doesn’t shy away from touchy
topics. In one scene, a fictionalized Indian prime minister belittles a lower
caste politician, touching on the sensitive topic of the age-old Hindu social
system.
Even the episode’s title is provocative.
It is called “Dictator.”
“They are using abusive language
and trying to defame the post of the prime minister, clearly hinting at our
current prime minister,” said Ram Kadam, a B.J.P. lawmaker who filed one of the
criminal complaints.
The authorities in Uttar Pradesh
State, home to many recent police killings and run by one of Mr. Modi’s closest
allies, a Hindu monk turned chief minister, seem especially offended. They said
in a filing with the police there that the Amazon series portrays the post of
prime minister “in a very indecent manner.” On Monday, state officials warned that the filmmakers should “prepare for
arrest.”
In the past few months, officials
belonging to Mr. Modi’s party have ratcheted up their pressure on some of the
most successful artists in the country. Critics see that pressure as an effort
to quash views that question Hindu nationalist ideology, which seeks to turn
India into an overt Hindu state and push non-Hindu minorities to the margins.
The drug authorities have gone
after leading actors on charges connected to marijuana possession. A popular comedian was recently jailed for allegedly
cracking jokes about Mr. Modi’s right-hand man, Amit Shah, even though the
authorities have offered no proof that the comedian said what they have
alleged.
The pressure extends into other
walks of life. An Indian airline pilot and decorated military veteran
was fired from his job this month after tweeting that the prime minister was
“an idiot.”
Indian cinema tends to be
culturally conservative, with sex scenes and obscenities discouraged by India’s
censor board. But until recently, online content in India fell into a gray
area.
In November, the Indian government
ruled that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which is currently run
by Prakash Javadekar, a close ally of Mr. Modi, has the authority to regulate online content.
Hindu nationalists are now urging
the government to step in.
Online broadcasts are “full of sex,
violence, drugs, abuse, hate and vulgarity,” wrote Manoj Kotak, a B.J.P.
lawmaker, in a recent letter to Mr. Javadekar. He closed his letter by telling
the minister to set up a regulatory body for online content and “in the
meantime ban controversial web series ‘Tandav.’”
