Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Wednesday said that the makers and actors of Amazon Prime web series Tandav had hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and would face tough legal action.

“The creators and actors of the web series have committed the crime of disturbing social harmony and hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus,” Maurya said in a tweet in Hindi. “Tough legal action will be taken.”

On Tuesday, a team of four policemen left for Mumbai to carry out their investigation, ANI reported. On Monday, they had filed a first information report against the director of the series Ali Abbas Zafar, producer Himanshu Krishna Mehra, writer Gaurav Solanki and Amazon Prime’s India Head of Originals Aparna Purohit.

Advertisement

Amid the intensifying controversy, the creators of the show had on Tuesday announced that they will “implement changes” to the content. “We did not intend to hurt or 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,” the director said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh government also said that it will file a case against the makers of the series. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan claimed that obscenity was being served on streaming platforms and there was a need to keep them in check.

Several other members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have insisted that the government pull the series off air or delete scenes which they allege insulted Hindu deities. The cast and crew had to offer an apology after that. However, BJP leader Ram Kadam on Monday said that a “apology was not enough”, and warned that his party would ensure the makers of the show are jailed.

Also read:

  1. ‘Tandav’ makers agree to make changes to web series after controversy
  2. ‘Tandav’ controversy: ‘Sorry is not enough, will jail makers of show’, says BJP leader

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath’s Media Advisor Shalabh Mani Tripathi had also warned the web series’ team of arrest. “Playing with the sentiments of people will not be tolerated,” he had tweeted on Monday. “Serious charges have been invoked against the team of Tandav, which is spreading hatred disguised as a cheap web series. Prepare for arrest soon.”

Amid the row over Tandav, a first information report was also registered in UP against the creators of another Amazon Prime web series Mirzapur for allegedly outraging the religious sentiments, and showing that a specific community had criminal links.