New Delhi:
Netflix India has assured Centre that sooner or later, content material might be in accordance with “nation’s sentiments”, sources have mentioned. The OTT large’s assurance comes in the back of a row involving its internet sequence ‘IC 814 Kandahar Hijack’.
The sequence, which revisits the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airways flight by Pakistan-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, has triggered a fierce backlash, culminating in an hour-long assembly between the streaming large and the Centre.
Directed by Anubhav Sinha and launched on August 29, it portrays the hijackers of the ill-fated flight in a fashion that has drawn ire from varied quarters, notably as a result of alleged alteration of their names to “Bhola” and “Shankar,” historically related to Lord Shiva. This depiction has been perceived as a distortion of historic details, with critics arguing that it misrepresents the actual identities of the terrorists, thereby offending Hindu sentiments.
The discharge of ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ has additionally ignited a disagreement on social media. BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya accused the filmmakers of furthering an agenda to whitewash the crimes of Pakistani terrorists by giving them Hindu names, thereby deceptive future generations. On the opposite facet, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Shiv Sena-UBT chief Priyanka Chaturvedi criticised the outrage as selective, mentioning the inconsistencies in calls for for historic accuracy in cinema.
On platforms like X (previously Twitter), hashtags reminiscent of #BoycottNetflix and #BoycottBollywood started trending, with customers accusing the filmmakers of rewriting historical past and downplaying the fear inflicted by the precise hijackers.
Nonetheless, a Union Dwelling Ministry doc, launched within the speedy aftermath of the 1999 hijacking has set the file straight.
The assertion categorically states that the hijackers – Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Shakir a.ok.a Rajesh Gopal Verma, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, Shahid Akhtar Sayed and Ibrahim Athar used nicknames like Bhola, Shankar, Physician and Burger to deal with one another contained in the aircraft.
“To the passengers of the hijacked place these hijackers got here to be recognized respectively as (1) Chief, (2) Physician, (3) Burger, (4) Bhola and (5) Shankar, the names by which the hijackers invariably addressed each other,” the federal government assertion reads.
In a parallel growth, actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut’s upcoming movie ‘Emergency’ has additionally come below scrutiny. Ms Ranaut stars as former prime minister Indira Gandhi within the movie which is predicated on the 21-month emergency that was imposed from 1975 to 1977.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), a prime Sikh spiritual physique, has raised objections to the movie, necessitating a delay in its launch because the CBFC considers the considerations.
After a delay in certification, Ms Ranaut mentioned it is “massively demotivating and unjust” that censorship is just for these like her who “make movies on historic details”.
Referring to ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’, Ms Ranaut mentioned on X that “one can present unimaginable quantity of violence and nudity on OTT platforms with none consequence or censorship, one may even distort real-life occasions to go well with their politically motivated sinister motives”.