Claim: Abida Parveen released a new song ‘O Mere Maula’ in collaboration with the Indian duo Salim and Sulaiman
Fact: ‘O Mere Maula’ is a new rendition of Abida Parveen’s 2016 song called ‘Noor e Elahi’
Legendary Sufi singer, Abida Parveen’s song, “O Mere Maula in the collaboration with Indian musician/singer brother duo Salim-Sulaiman has gone viral across the border. It was uploaded on April 9 and gained over 300,000 views on YouTube. It is currently trending on YouTube.
Bollywood actor, Pankaj Tripathi is also featured in the Music Video. He is known for popular roles in films, Mimi, Mirzapur, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Stree, Gangs of Wasseypur,andSacred Games.
The video is shot in three world cities of Mumbai, Toronto, and Islamabad. However, this song was actually released on Jul 5, 2016, with the song titled, Noor E Ilahi which is an earlier upload of the same music video, surpassing 19,000,000 views till now.
The Supreme Court of India has issued notices to the makers and producers of the web-series Mirzapur and Amazon Prime Video.
According to reports, a bench headed by Chief justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde admitted the plea and sought a response from the makers of the web-series and Over The Top (OTT) platform Amazon Prime Video.
The petition sought a direction that the government of India set up a core screening committee for web series, films, or other programmes that are directly released on online platforms.
The plea said, “The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting must make a certificate from a government authority mandatory before releasing any web series, movies, or program on OTT platforms.”
“By showing such ridicules and shameless things on the name of a city/ district is the insult of approximately 30 lakh population and rich culture of Mirzapur,” added the plea.
Supreme Court issues notice to makers and producers of web series ‘Mirzapur’ and Amazon Prime Video, on a petition complaining about the portrayal of Mirzapur district, UP in a bad light in the web series. SC seeks response from the OTT platform and series makers pic.twitter.com/NW074JKI9b
The PIL was filed by Sujeet Kumar Singh, a resident of Mirzapur, who said the web-series makers had shown Mirzapur as a city of goons and adulteress. The show, which was released on Amazon Prime Video on November 16, 2018, explores crime, murder and general lawlessness in a typically dysfunctional fictional town in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh. Its second season was released in October 2020.
The plea has made the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Excel Entertainment Private Limited and Amazon Prime Video as parties in the case.
The court’s notice comes two days after an FIR was registered in Uttar Pradesh (UP) against the creators of Mirzapur for hurting “religious, social and regional sentiments” and “damaging social harmony”.
The FIR was filed by local journalist Arvind Chaturvedi who alleged that the Amazon Prime Video show hurts religious, social, and regional sentiments and damages social harmony. Chaturvedi also claimed that the series has hurt religious beliefs and feelings by focusing on abusive and illicit relationships. It is pertinent to add here that Chaturvedi has also written a book on the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Chaturvedi also accused the makers of spoiling the image of UP and presenting the city of Mirzapur in a poor light. He claimed that the web series shows abusive content, incest, and illicit relations.
Meanwhile, Amazon Prime is also under fire for its recently released political drama Tandav. The show is facing backlash for its portrayal of Hindu Gods and it has been alleged that the show depicts them in a poor light. Several BJP leaders have called for a complete ban on the show.
Tandav creator Ali Abbas Zafar on Tuesday announced that the cast and crew of the show has decided to implement changes in the series in order to pacify viewers who have been hurt because of the content.
Zafar shared an official statement from the cast and crew of Tandav on Twitter and asserted that the team had no intentions to hurt or offend the sentiments of any caste, race, community, or religion.
“We have the utmost respect for the sentiments of the people of our country. We did not intend to hurt or offend the sentiments of any individual, caste, community, race, religion or religious beliefs or insult or outrage any institution, political party or person, living or dead,” read the statement.
A case has been filed against the producers of Mirzapur, as well as Amazon Prime Video, for allegedly hurting “religious, social and regional sentiments” and “damaging social harmony”.
As per the reports, the complainant, Arvind Chaturvedi, has alleged that the Amazon Prime Video show hurts religious, social, and regional sentiments and damages social harmony. Chaturvedi also claimed that the series has hurt religious beliefs and feelings by focusing on abusive and illicit relationships. It is pertinent to add here that Chaturvedi is a local journalist, who has also written a book on the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The makers of the superhit web series have also been accused of spoiling the image of Uttar Pradesh (UP).
An FIR has also been reportedly filed against Mirzapur producers Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, and Bhaumik Gondaliya. They have been charged under IPC sections 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC along with sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
This is not the first time that the show has found itself embroiled in a controversy. Last year, a day after its release, Mirzapur’s MP Anupriya Patel had also demanded action against the show.
In a tweet on October 24, 2020, MP Anupriya Patel had written that under the leadership of PM Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the city of Mirzapur has shown development and is “a centre of harmony”.
The complaint against Mirzapur comes days after an FIR was lodged against the makers of Tandav. The recently-released show is facing backlashfor its portrayal of Hindu Gods and it has been alleged that the show depicts them in a poor light. Several BJP leaders have called for a complete ban on the show.
Tandav creator Ali Abbas Zafar on Tuesday announced that the cast and crew of the show has decided to implement changes in the series in order to pacify viewers who have been hurt because of the content.
Zafar shared an official statement from the cast and crew of Tandav on Twitter and asserted that the team had no intentions to hurt or offend the sentiments of any caste, race, community, or religion.
“We have the utmost respect for the sentiments of the people of our country. We did not intend to hurt or offend the sentiments of any individual, caste, community, race, religion or religious beliefs or insult or outrage any institution, political party or person, living or dead,” read the statement.
The team also thanked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for guiding and supporting them in the matter.
“We thank the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for guidance and support in the matter. We once again apologise if the series has unintentionally hurt anybody’s sentiments,” it added.
Earlier on Monday, the cast and crew of the political-drama had extended their apologies to the viewers for “unintentionally” hurting their sentiments.
An MP from Uttar Pradesh’s (UP) Mirzapur district Anupriya Patel has demanded a ban on the web series Mirzapur 2, saying it was spreading ethnic disharmony. The Apna Dal parliamentarian said that the series was maligning the image of Mirzapur by portraying it as a “violent” region.
According to details, Patel told reporters that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Mirzapur is a ‘centre of harmony’ and the matter must be investigated and strict action be taken against those responsible for sullying its image”.
She further said: “As an MP of Mirzapur district, I demand that the series be investigated and action should be taken against it.”
Mirzapur 2 is a violent tale of feuds in families, politics and elections. It features Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Pankaj Tripathi Ali Fazal and Divyendu Sharma in the lead roles. The show, which premiered on October 23 on Amazon Prime is immensely popular in both India and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, some social media users also called for a ban on the series, Ali Fazal and co-producer Farhan Akhtar. According toIndian media, the reason for its boycott could be Fazal and Akhtar. People are angry about Fazal’s previous post on Twitter in December 2019, in which he opposed the CAA and NRC.
However, Patel’s call for an inquiry against Mirzapur 2 does not hold because it is a fictional series. Further, a detailed disclaimer before each episode states that any ‘resemblance to actual events or people is purely coincidental’.
The disclaimer adds: “Any dialogues, characters in the program are not intended to offend the sentiments of any individual, caste, community, race or religion or to denigrate any institution, political party or person, living or dead.”
