On Thursday, January 11, a letter from Zee Studios to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) went viral on social media, apologising for offending the Hindu community’s religious feelings with their movie “Annapoorani.” Written on Zee Studio letterhead and addressed to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the letter dated 9 January
According to the letter, Netflix has been asked to withdraw the movie from its over-the-top platform until it is changed, and Zee has encouraged the film’s co-producers, M/s Trident Arts, to take proper action against the objectionable elements in the movie. Zee expressed regret for hurting the religious feelings of the Brahmin and Hindu populations.
As of Thursday, January 11, Netflix had taken down the movie from the OTT site.
Notably, the movie had a description reading, “The daughter of a temple cook goes against her family’s wishes to make non-vegetarian food in order to prove she’s a talented chef in her own right,” when it was available for streaming on Netflix until yesterday.
“Annapoorani,” the 75th film in which Tamil actress Nayanthara has appeared, was made available on Netflix on December 28th of last year. Zee Studios, Naad Studios, and Trident Arts are the producers of the film.
Because of its anti-Hindu themes, the movie has recently drawn a lot of criticism on social media. The movie was charged with encouraging Islamization, distorting the Hindu god Bhagwan Ram, and hurting Hindus’ religious feelings.
BJP leader Ramesh Solanki filed a police complaint against the “Annapoorani” film’s directors on Saturday, January 6. The Chief Inspector of the Lokmanya Tilak police station received a letter from Solanki, the creator of the Hindu IT Cell, asking for action against the feature film’s anti-Hindu sentiment.
The Hindu activist claimed that “Annapoorani” had a number of offensive scenes. These include myths like Lord Ram and Maa Sita eating meat in the Ramayana, the glorification of love jihad, and the Namaz (Islamic prayer) offered by the daughter of a Hindu Brahmin temple priest.
On social media, the film’s scandal began to acquire traction as a number of people and organisations voiced their disapproval.
On January 10, the Hindu Seva Parishad in Madhya Pradesh filed a second First Information Report (FIR) against the movie’s producers and performers.
The Hindu Seva Parishad filed a criminal complaint, claiming that scenes in Annapoorani offended Hindu sensibilities by making disparaging remarks about Lord Rama. The organisation added that the movie supported Love Jihad.
A formal complaint was lodged against the anti-Hindu propaganda film’s director, producer, performers, and four additional individuals.
The spokeswoman for the Hindu Seva Parishad commented on the film’s substance, alleging that it features moments with derogatory words about Hindu deities, particularly Lord Rama. The spokesman expressed alarm at the film’s purported portrayal of Lord Rama consuming meat and killing animals while he was exiled, describing it as false propaganda that had seriously hurt Hindu feelings.
