Nayanthara’s Annapoorani removed from Netflix amid backlash for hurting religious sentiments, producer apologises

Netflix has removed Nayanthara's Annapoorni amid a backlash. The streaming platform has issued a statement, and the film's co-producer Zee Studios has also issued an apology letter and assured that the controversial scenes in the film will be removed and an edited version will be released.

Poster of Annapoorni

Nayanthara-starrer Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food has been removed from Netflix amid allegations that it hurts religious sentiments. The film released theatrically on December 1 and started streaming on Netflix from December 29. There have been protests claiming it “offends Hindu religious sentiments” since then, with an FIR being lodged against its makers and cast in Mumbai on Monday. The film is about a Brahmin woman (Nayanthara) who comes from a conservative family and aims to become India’s top chef. Her classmate Farhan (Jai) helps her navigate the challenges, including cooking and eating meat.

One of the scenes that have allegedly caused offence shows the protagonist cooking meat and wearing a hijab. The film’s co-producer Zee Studios has also issued an apology letter and assured that the controversial scenes in the film will be removed and an edited version will be released. The official letter read, “We as co-producers of the film had no intention to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and Brahmin communities and would like to hereby apologize for the inconvenience and hurt caused to the sentiments of the respective communities.”

Netflix said in a statement that the film was removed from the service at ‘the licensor’s request’.

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The FIR was filed on January 8 by Rakesh Solanki, founder of the Hindu IT Cell, against the film’s lead actors Nayanthara and Jai, writer-director Nilesh Krishnaa, producers Jatin Sethi, R Ravindran, and Punit Goenka, Zee Studios Chief Business Officer Shariq Patel, and the head of Netflix India, Monika Shergill.

ALSO READ | Annapoorni movie review: Nayanthara-Nilesh Krishnaa serve a bland film

The activist wrote on X, “At a time when the whole world is rejoicing in anticipation of the Pran Pratishtha of Bhagwan Shri Ram Mandir, this anti-Hindu film Annapoorani has been released on Netflix, produced by Zee Studios, Naad Studios, and Trident Arts.1. A daughter of Hindu Poojari, offers Namaz to cook Biryani. 2. Love Jihad is promoted in this Film.
3. Farhan (Actor) persuades the actress to eat meat saying that Bhagwan Shri Ram was also a meat eater (sic).”

I have filed complain against #AntiHinduZee and #AntiHinduNetflix

At a time when the whole world is rejoicing in anticipation of the Pran Pratishtha of Bhagwan Shri Ram Mandir, this anti-Hindu film Annapoorani has been released on Netflix, produced by Zee Studios, Naad Sstudios… pic.twitter.com/zM0drX4LMR

— Ramesh Solanki🇮🇳 (@Rajput_Ramesh) January 6, 2024

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Official letter from Zee Entertainment

Actor Parvathy took to Instagram to condemn the decision to remove the film from Netflix. She wrote, “A dangerous precedent being set. Censoring left right and ‘centre’until we won’t be allowed to breathe,” she wrote on Instagram.

Earlier, Amazon Prime Video had issued an unconditional apology over its show Tandav after multiple FIRs were filed against it, saying it “deeply regrets that viewers considered certain scenes to be objectionable”. The OTT platform had also removed certain scenes from the Saif Ali Khan-starrer that were considered offensive. A Washington Post report also listed many Indian projects that OTT platforms backed out of, following the Tandav controversy. These include Anurag Kashyap’s magnum opus Maximum City, Dibakar Banerjee’s Tees and Vikramaditya Motwane’s Indi(r)a’s Emergency.

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