Tandav Controversy: Explained in 10 points 

Ali Abbas Zafar directorial Tandav has been at the center of the controversy for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. The web show released on Amazon Prime Video and had an ensemble star cast including Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Sunil Grover, Zeeshan Ayyub, Gauhar Khan, and Kritika Kamra amongst others.

Tandav faced a backlash from a certain section of society for provoking communal disharmony over a scene from the first episode. Not only this, more than three FIRs have been registered against the makers as well as the star cast for hurting Hindu sentiments.

Here are 10 points that explain why Saif Ali Khan, Sunil Grover's web series is creating chaos.

1. The series came under fire with several people claiming that it provokes communal disharmony and hurts sentiments of the Hindus. According to the complaints, a scene featuring MohdZeeshan Ayyub performing a college play insults the Hindu deity Shiv.

2. Soon after the release of Tandav, viewers took to Twitter to demand a ban on the series using #BanTandavNow.

3. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry had earlier issued notice to Amazon Prime, the OTT platform airing the show, seeking its response to the complaints.

4. A criminal complaint has been filed before a Delhi court seeking action against OTT platform Amazon Prime and the makers of the web series including Ali Abbas Zafar (director), Aparna Purohit (head, India Amazon original contents), Himanshu Krishna Mehra (producer), Gaurav Solanki (writer), Saif Ali Khan (actor), Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub (actor) and Gauhar Khan (actor) as accused.

5. The complaint filed under Section 200 of the CrPC seeks summoning, commencing trial and punishing the accused persons alleging that the web series is provoking communal disharmony and is hurting the sentiments of Hindus.

6. The makers of Tandav had released their official statement in which they had unconditionally apologised for unintentionally hurting the religious sentiments. In the statement, Ali Abbas Zafar shared that they have been closely monitoring the row, and stressed that the series is a complete work of fiction.

7. At least three FIRs have been registered in Uttar Pradesh against the makers and artists of 'Tandav'.

8. A team of Uttar Pradesh Police reached Mumbai on January 20 to question the makers of web series.

9. Many political leaders including Mayawati, Kapil Mishra and others also condemned the show for 'insulting Hindu god.

10. Following the uproar, the cast and crew of Amazon Prime Video's web series ‘Tandav’ have decided to make changes to the web series to “address the concerns" raised towards it.