Zee5 has suspended its controversial 'Godman' series, after the Chennai Central Crime Branch registered an FIR against the makers. The series, which was expected to release on the OTT platform on June 12, had sparked outrage after its trailer allegedly hurt the sentiments of the World Bhramin Welfare Association and other Hindu religious groups.
The OTT platform released an official statement that read: "ZEE5 is a responsible content creator and a leading player in the digital ecosystem. The platform has been following stringent guidelines when it comes to self-regulating content and has proactively instilled a robust set of features in this regard. Purely in the interest of its viewers, ZEE5 was also one of the first industry players to have signed the Code for Self-Regulation of Online Curated Content Providers."
"We have decided to suspend the release of this show at this moment, the producers, show and ZEE5 had no intent whatsoever of offending or hurting any religious beliefs, community, personal beliefs or sentiments."
Meanwhile, according to a report by News Minute, the makers of 'Godman' has alleged that it was BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who tried to 'stifle their voices'. The 'Godman' team had released an official statement regarding the involvement of the politician.
"On 30th of May, the President of the World Brahmin Organisation, Subramaniya Iyer had filed a complaint under sections 153, 153(a), 153A(1)(b), 295A, 504, 505 (1)(b), 295A, 504, 505(1)(b), 505(2) IPC with Chennai's Cybercrime Department implicating both the Producer Elango Ragupathy and Director Babu Yogeswaran in a criminal case. Without any understanding of the web-series’s story or intentions or characterisation or the context of dialogues these groups have created an uproar of hate, going by the one minute teaser," read the statement.
It further said, "If the web series is cancelled, the dominance and power of these unconstitutional and unconscionable forces will amass, letting anybody with a fragile ego or vested interest interfere with the freedom of art, stifling our voices and thoughts. This is an infinite power we must never allow anyone. We need to act now. We need to resist the forces who think they can police our ideas."
