ENTERTAINMENT

As the ongoing farmers' protest against three new farm laws enters into 12th day on Monday (December 7), actor and BJP MP from Gurdaspur Sunny Deol on Sunday said that he stands with his party and with farmers. 

Sunny Deol supported the new farm laws and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre always thinks of the betterment of farmers. The Bollywood actor took to Twitter to post a picture of his statement on the ongoing farmers` protest.

"I request the whole world that it is matter between our farmers and the government. Do not come between them, because both will find a way after discussions. I know that many people want to take benefits from it and are creating problems. They are not thinking of farmers. They may have their own agenda," he said.

The cast and crew of Amazon Prime Video's Tandav have issued an 'unconditional' apology on Monday evening. In the statement, they mentioned that they did not intend to hurt religious beliefs or sentiments. They also referred to parts of the disclaimer that is an industry-standard and said that 'Tandav was a work of fiction' and 'any resemblance to acts and persons and events is purely coincidental".

The statement reads, "Tandav' is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to acts and persons and events is purely coincidental. 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."

Ali Abbas Zafar's Amazon Prime Video show Tandav has run into a controversy after people alleged that it has hurt Hindu sentiments. The show BJP MP Manoj Kotak and another leader of the same party named Ram Kadam have called out the show starring Saif Ali Khan, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Dimple Kapadia and others in the lead roles. Kotak has written to Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar seeking action against Tandav.

Ram Kadam stated, "Why is it becoming a trend amongst films and web series makers to demean Hindu gods? The latest culprit seems to be the series Tandav. Saif Ali Khan again part of a film or series which attempts to target Hindu deities. Director Ali Abbas Zafar needs to remove that scene which mocks Hindu God Shiva. Actor Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub needs to apologise and Tandav should be boycotted until necessary changes are made."

Even the final season of House of Cards, which is generally considered to be worst of the lot, is better than anything that Amazon Prime Video's Tandav has to offer. Like Machiavelli for middle-schoolers, the new political drama takes ideas that might’ve seemed complex on paper, but dilutes them so thoroughly that they border on waste material.

Saif Ali Khan plays Samar Pratap Singh, the son of a two-term Prime Minister. Tandav opens with PM Devki Nandan on the verge of claiming another victory in the General Elections. Samar, who Saif essentially plays as a trust fund kid, also has designs on the top job.

It’s an odd Saif performance, one that robs the character of all subtlety. Not that Gaurav Solanki’s screenplay could’ve been redeemed by the actors, but you'd hope for a more nuanced approach, considering the sheer potential of the material. Tandav, instead, conveys every idea with the force of a ‘lathi’ to the kneecap. Almost as if it doubts that the audience will be able to keep up with its (extremely) basic plot, the show has the characters recap important moments, and routinely think out loud.

In a significant development, mobile subscribers will no longer hear Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan's voice as a caller tune from January 13 (Friday), Union Health Ministry sources told Zee News. The caller tune states a list of precautionary measures in a bid to avoid contracting the coronavirus.

According to sources in the health ministry, a female voice will be used for letting people know about the COVID-19 vaccination drive. The caller tune will be based on COVID-19 vaccination from Friday.

Last week, a petition was filed in the Delhi High Court regarding Bachchan's voice as the caller tune. The petitioner argued that the voice of Amitabh Bachchan should be removed from the caller tune because he and his family members were among the ones who were infected with COVID-19.