Tandav row: Gauahar Khan reacts as Supreme Court refuses to grant actors protection from arrest

Gauahar Khan responded to the Supreme Court's refusal to grant relief to the makers and actors of Tandav. Criminal cases have been lodged against the cast and crew for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

Gauahar Khan reacted to the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant the makers and actors of controversial Amazon Prime Video series Tandav protection from arrest. Criminal cases have been lodged against them in multiple states for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

Gauahar Khan in a still from Tandav.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court denied relief to the makers and actors of Tandav, citing that ‘right to freedom of speech is not absolute’. When Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub’s lawyer argued that he was just an actor under contract and that the views expressed by his character could not be attributed to him, Justice MR Shah said, “You accepted the contract after reading the script. You cannot hurt religious sentiments.”

Responding to this comment, a Twitter user remarked, “Excellent. Next people playing murderers on screen might be tried for the same. After all, they read the script…” Gauahar retweeted the tweet along with three ‘face with monocle’ emojis.

Gauahar Khan let emojis do the talking for her.

Gauahar Khan was replying to a tweet on the Supreme Court's refusal to grant the makers and actors of Tandav protection from arrest.

Tandav has been accused of disrespecting Hindu deities, with several political leaders including Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya demanding legal action against the team.

Earlier this month, Tandav creator Ali Abbas Zafar issued an apology on behalf of the team. Calling any resemblance to real-life persons and incidents coincidental, he wrote in a statement, “The cast and crew did not have any intention to 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. The cast and crew of Tandav take cognizance of the concerns expressed by the people and unconditionally apologize if it has unintentionally hurt anybody’s sentiments.”

Later, Ali issued another statement, in which he said that the makers decided to ‘implement changes’ to Tandav after concerns were raised. At least two scenes were removed from the show.

Tandav is a nine-episode series that takes viewers inside the corridors of power and politics. The show also stars Saif Ali Khan, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Sunil Grover, Kritika Kamra, Sarah Jane Dias, Kumud Mishra, Dino Morea and Amyra Dastur, among others.