'Tandav' row: BJP issues ultimatum to MVA government, threatens to send makers to prison

Amazon web series 'Tandav' has come under heavy criticism for its alleged controversial content with the BJP issuing an ultimatum to the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, demanding the registration of an FIR against Amazon in the next three days, according to a News18 report. If the Maharashtra government fails to do so, the BJP will intensify its protest.

'Tandav', a nine-episode political thriller starring Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, started streaming last week and is neck-deep in trouble with loud calls for its boycott and an FIR against its makers in Lucknow. Filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar created, directed and produced the political drama with Himanshu Kishan Mehra and it is written by Gaurav Solanki, best known for "Article 15".

The scene at the heart of the controversy relates Zeeshan's Shiva doing a stage play where he is dressed as Lord Shiva. The sequence talks about how Lord Ram has become more popular today.

Read: 'Tandav' stirs controversy, but it’s not the only one

"The result of our continuous talks with Amazon for the last 5 hours is that several political leaders have had to put pressure on Amazon. This has forced the team of Tandav to apologise. But let us clarify that your apology is not enough. We will not wait till we send all of them to prison. We will intensify #banAmazonproducts campaign," Maharashtra BJP MLA Ram Kadam said.

The cast and crew of 'Tandav' on Monday issued an unconditional apology if their fictional show had “unintentionally” hurt sentiments. The team issued a statement in a bid to defuse the situation, saying that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had informed them about the “large number of grievances and petitions received on various facets of the web series with serious concerns and apprehensions regarding its content hurting the sentiments of the people”.

Stating that their show is a work of fiction, the team said they did not have any intention to 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.

Read more: 'Tandav' team tenders apology amid growing outrage

"The cast and crew of Tandav take cognizance of the concerns expressed by the people and unconditionally apologize if it has unintentionally hurt anybody’s sentiments," it said.

Earlier on Monday, Ram Kadam urged people to boycott the web series. The political drama series is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

In a tweet, Kadam said, It's been close to 24 hrs and still no apology from Amazon.

"Seems like they are proud of or don't regret their demeaning act of mocking or targeting our Hindu Gods. I urge all Hindus to boycott Amazon's products, be it their shopping site or content platform," he said.