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Paatal Lok: Bollywood's most controversial hit series

The stars of Amazon Prime’s new Indian drama speak out on the backlash surrounding their gritty portrayal of crime, corruption and caste inequalities

Anushka Sharma is one of Bollywood’s best-known actors and is married to Virat Kohli, captain of the Indian cricket team. She recently co-produced Paatal Lok, the hit Amazon Prime thriller, but when she posted a screenshot of her virtual wrap party after shooting she had no idea just how controversial the show would be.

While its nine episodes were hailed for their accurate portrayal of India’s caste, religion, fake news and crime issues, the series also attracted a long list of complaints. Right-wing Facebook groups labelled it “anti-national” and “Hindu-phobic” for portraying how minorities are treated and a legal notice was served for a scene where a woman is raped by Sikhs. Soon the hashtag #BoycottPaatalLok was trending on Twitter. Nandkishor Gurjar, a member of the Legislative Assembly of the ruling BJP party, even filed a complaint against Sharma for using his picture in the series without permission. Gurjar’s photograph was used in a scene in which Balkrishna Bajpayee – a corrupt politician in the show – formally opens a highway. Gurjar even demanded that Virat Kohli divorce Sharma for making an unpatriotic show.

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/38ejHwW
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