Bollywood actor Pankaj Tripathi has opened up about his cyber interaction with A-list Pakistani drama actor Iqra Aziz in an interview. The Stree star stated that a fan messaged him about the Raqeeb Se diva’s praise for his acting prowess.
He was informed by the mutual fan that Iqra is a very famous actress of Pakistan and as a fellow artist he made sure that he responds to her appreciation.
Taking to her Instagram stories on November 5, Aziz shared a picture of Pankaj Tripathi and wrote, “Hayee Kaleen bhaiya ap mere favourite ho (Oh Kaleen, you are my favourite).”
But Aziz would’ve never thought her random appreciation would be acknowledged by the Indian actor who also starred in Netflix’s Sacred Games.
Tripathi responded with an emoticon, a screenshot of which was shared by Aziz on her Instagram stories lately.
“Pankaj ji replied to me and I can’t believe it!” wrote Aziz on top of the screenshot with several celebratory emoticons.
Mirzapur’s season 2 recently premiered on Amazon Prime and received a lot of appreciation from the fans. Tripathi plays the leading role of Akhandanand Tripathi aka Kaleen bhaiya in the reknowned Indian show.
The story revolves around a shocking incident at a wedding procession that ignites a series of events entangling the lives of two families in the lawless city.
Netflix India has announced that it would release 41 shows and films in India this year, calling the move its “next big leap” in the world’s second-most populous nation India, where video streaming services have become more popular.
According to details, Netflix’s new roster includes 41 titles featuring Bollywood actors, stand-up comedy shows and original series. Most shows will be in the Hindi language.
The upcoming content will feature top Bollywood actors including Madhuri Dixit, Kartik Aryan, Sonakshi Sinha, Karan Johar, Manoj Bajpayee, R. Madhavan, and Raveena Tandon.
“We are taking our next big leap in India,” said Netflix while announcing the news, adding that the upcoming lineup “features more variety and diversity than we have seen before”.
India, whose Bollywood film industry makes more productions each year than Hollywood, remains a challenging market for the streaming services.
Amazon’s Prime Video has become embroiled in legal cases and police complaints over a political drama Tandav deemed offensive to Hindu religious sentiments. The streaming platform apologised to viewers over some scenes.
Earlier this year, Netflix announcedthat it will release more than 70 movies this year across comedy, drama, family and other genres, a lineup that underscores the streaming service’s growing prominence in the film business. It added that it plans to release a new movie every week for the entire year of 2021.
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.”
