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 Companies like Amazon's Prime
Video and Netflix are inspecting planned shows
and scripts, with some even deleting scenes that
could be controversial, five Bollywood directors
and producers, and two industry sources said.
This comes as Amazon Prime Video has become
embroiled in legal cases and police complaints
alleging "Tandav" depicts Hindu gods and
goddesses in a derogatory manner and offends
religious beliefs. "Tandav", a Hindi word
meaning fury, stars top Bollywood actors.
Public outcry over obscenity and religious
depictions are common in culturally sensitive
India, but the "Tandav" issue snowballed as
police questioned Amazon India's head of
original content for Prime Video for hours
following official complaints.
Fearing arrest, Aparna Purohit put in an
anticipatory bail plea, which was declined by a
state court but the Supreme Court on Friday gave
her protection from arrest.
"Scripts are being read and re-read now," said a
producer from Bollywood, India's Hindi film
industry. "Streaming platforms are vetting
content for anything that they see as a red
flag," the producer added, declining to be
named.
Amazon has decided to delay streaming a new
season of a popular Hindi spy thriller, "The
Family Man", which was to release last month,
four of the sources told Reuters.
The show, Amazon says, is about an Indian
intelligence officer's efforts in his
"high-pressure, and low paying job".
While Amazon declined to comment, one of the
sources said the delay was "a ripple effect of
what happened with Tandav".
Amazon recently issued a public apology "to
anyone who felt hurt" by "Tandav", saying some
objectionable scenes had been removed.
India, the world's second-most populous nation
with 1.3 billion people, is a valuable market
for Amazon and its rivals Netflix and Walt
Disney Co's Disney+ Hotstar.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said at an event last
year that Prime Video was doing well globally
"but nowhere it's doing better than India".
Netflix has announced 41 new shows and films for
2021 in India, versus around 30 new titles
released in 2020.
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 'TOO MUCH RISK', ARREST FEARS
Unlike films, content on video streaming
platforms currently face no censorship in India.
But some lawmakers and supporters of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party
say certain shows on Amazon and Netflix promote
obscenity or hurt religious beliefs.
A member of the ruling party's youth wing has
made a police complaint against Netflix,
objecting to scenes in the series "A Suitable
Boy" showing a Hindu girl kissing a Muslim boy
against the backdrop of a Hindu temple.
Netflix is closely tracking Amazon's "Tandav"
cases, one entertainment industry source said.
Netflix declined to comment.
One scene from "Tandav" removed by Amazon after
release was around a stage play where a person
acting as the Hindu god Shiva seeks suggestions
on how to increase his social media following
after someone says Lord Ram was becoming very
popular online.
Revered characters of faith have "been lampooned
and portrayed in a very cheap" way, the state
court judge observed while declining Purohit's
anticipatory bail plea.
The Supreme Court, however, gave her protection
from arrest subject to her co-operation in the
case.
Her lawyer said Amazon was willing to cut more
scenes from "Tandav" if desired.
Among the biggest fallout of the controversy is
the rising fear of arrests. Some producers are
asking for clauses in their contracts with
streaming services to protect them from
lawsuits.
"It's just too much of a risk and not worth the
headache, especially if you are being threatened
with jail," a producer said.
(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Aditya Kalra
and Euan Rocha; Additional reporting by Sankalp
Phartiyal and Saurabh Sharma; Editing by Himani
Sarkar)
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