Mirzapur, the web series by Amazon Prime Video, landed in trouble after a journalist filed an FIR against the makers of the show for painting a poor picture of Mirzapur city and Purvanchal, a district in Uttar Pradesh and for hurting religious sentiments.
Arvind Chaturvedi, the editor-in-chief of India News, filed a complaint against the show at at Kotwali Dehat police station in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, alleging that the show promotes social enmity, and hurt the religious sentiments of a particular community, reported Bar & Bench.
The complaint was filed against Amazon Prime Video and the show’s executive producers Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, and Bhaumik Gondaliya under Sections 295A (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code, in addition to Information Technology Act sections.
FIR filed against TV Show Mirzapur. FIR has been filed by Chief Editor of India News, Uttarakhand, Arvind Chaturvedi (in picture). @ritesh_sid, @FarOutAkhtar , @amazonIN and others named in the FIR.#AmazonPrime #Mirzapur #Tandav @YehHaiMirzapur pic.twitter.com/hTvsxs5wjt
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) January 19, 2021
Chaturvedi, who hails from Bhuili in Mirzapur and has authored a book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi (The Real Modi: The Man Who Would be Prime Minister), said in his complaint that the show’s plot and dialogues hurt religious, social and regional sentiments.
“Mirzapur is the sacred pilgrim of goddess Vidhyavaasini, which is the centre of inspiration and faith for the world,” the complaint stated.
Refusing to comment, the Mirzapur Police told Silverscreen India that they were awaiting a court order on the matter.
In November 2020, Mirzapur was renewed for a third season following the resounding success of its second season. Mirzapur Season 2, which released on October 23, 2020, created history after it became the most-watched web series on Amazon Prime Video within seven days of its release. Watched in over 180 countries within a week, according to the streaming platform, 50% of the viewers who had watched the first season, binge-watched the second season within 48 hours of its release.
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The first season starred Pankaj Tripathi, Rasika Dugal, Divyendu Sharma, Ali Fazal, Shweta Tripathi, Vikrant Massey, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Sheeba Chaddha, Harshita Gaur, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rajesh Tailang, Shaji Chaudhary, among others. The cast reprised their roles for the second season along with new entries, including Anjum Sharma, Isha Talwar, Meghna Malik, Vijay Verma, Lilliput, and Priyanshu Painyuli. The show is directed by Gurmmeet Singh, Mihir Desai, and Anshuman.
The FIR comes a few days after a BJP leader filed a complaint on the makers of Tandav, another web series streaming on Amazon Prime Video, claiming that the show hurts the sentiments of Hindus.
Additional inputs from Shrija Ganguly.