Tandav row: Amazon issues fresh apology, says 'we respect viewers' beliefs'
Amazon Prime Video has issued a new apology over the legal cases surrounding the political drama Tandav
Streaming platform Amazon Prime Video on Tuesday apologised "unconditionally" for its show Tandav and said it has already removed scenes found objectionable by viewers.
The political drama, starring Saif Ali Khan and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, attracted huge controversy for a scene depicting a college theatrical programme, leading to allegations that the show hurt religious sentiments and multiple FIRs.
"Amazon Prime Video again deeply regrets that viewers considered certain scenes to be objectionable in the recently launched fictional series 'Tandav'. This was never our intention, and the scenes that were objected to were removed or edited when they were brought to our attention," Amazon Prime said in a statement.
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"We respect our viewers' diverse beliefs and apologise unconditionally to anyone who felt hurt by these scenes. Our teams follow company content evaluation processes, which we acknowledge need to be constantly updated to better serve our audiences," the company added.
The streamer said it will continue to develop entertaining content with partners while "complying with the laws of India and respecting the diversity of culture and beliefs of our audiences".
The cast and the crew of the Ali Abbas Zafar-directed series apologised twice. Eventually, the team decided to cut the objectionable portions.
Recently, the Central government announced new rules and guidelines for digital platforms and content creators. Soon after the announcement, Ali Abbas wrote for News 18, "In January, our show Tandav was released on an OTT platform. It was the fruit of our labour and we were anxious as to how it would be received, like any other film we make. However, once the show was aired, certain sections of society were offended with certain scenes in the show. At that time, we had to run from pillar to post to prevent an arrest. Had the guidelines been present then, it would have served a two-fold purpose: we would have been self-informed in advance as to what is permissible and what isn't and secondly, once the show was in line with the guidelines, we would have not have had to run from pillar to post. That is why I whole-heatedly welcome these self-regulatory guidelines."
