Nayantara’s Tamil language film “Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food” has been removed by Netflix after the criticism by Hindu groups and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) spokesperson Ramesh Solanki.
The film was released in theaters on Dec 1st and got a mixed review from the public. Then it was launched on Netflix on Dec 29th with the approval from Central Board’s Chennai regional office.
About Annapoorani
The film is about a Brahmin woman named Annapoorani, portrayed by Nayantara, who is shown eating and cooking meat and aims to become India’s top chef against her family’s will. And her friend Farhan (portrayed by Jai) helps in the process of navigating the challenges.
Criticism, Legal Action Against Film and Filmmaker’s Response to the Controversy
- The controversy started when people watched it on Netflix, and it received widespread backlash on social media, with right-wing groups labeling it as ‘Anti-Hindu’, mocking the Brahmin community, promoting Love Jihad, and hurting people’s sentiments by saying that Hindu god Ram ate meat during his exile in Jungle.
On Jan 6th, the first complaint was filed by Rakesh Solanki against the film’s lead actors Nayanthara and Jai, director-writer Nilesh Krishnaa, producers Jatin Sethi, Punit Goenka, and R Ravindran, Zee Studios Chief Business Officer Shariq Patel and the head of Netflix India, Monika Shergill.
On Jan 10th, another complaint was filed against the film by Jabalpur police.
Amid the FIRs, Zee studio, co-producer of the film, apologized to VHP and said that they had taken note of VHP’s allegation and would take down the film from the platform. It would only released after making the required changes. In its apology letter, Zee wrote, “We have no intentions as co-producers of the film to hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu and Brahmin communities and would like to hereby apologize for the inconvenience caused and hurt caused to the sentiments of the respective communities.”
Asking Questions Is Imperative
How is portraying a Brahmin woman eating and cooking meat offensive? How does saying Ram ate meat during time in exile affect religious sentiments? Wouldn’t eating meat in the forest increase the chance of survival?
Other shows like Padmaavat, Tandav, and The suitable Boy also had been criticized by such Hindu groups for hurting religious sentiment, spreading misinformation, and promoting Jihad forcing filmmakers to change or edit the scenes. Won’t the OTT platforms, which have garnered praise for showcasing exceptional themes not commonly explored by mainstream cinema, face obstacles in continuing to do so? Doesn’t the subjectivity and fragility of religious sentiment take an artist’s freedom to express? The removal of the show from Netflix has raised many such questions.
Nayantara’s apology tweet on Jan 18th, starting with ‘Jai Shri Ram’ provides some disappointing answers.
