Amazon Prime Video has issued a new statement on the controversy surrounding their web series Tandav.

Recently, the Allahabad High Court had rejected an anticipatory bail plea filed by Aparna Purohit, the head of Amazon Prime Video India Originals. The court had observed that “names and icons of faith of the majority community have been used to earn money.”

“Amazon Prime Video again deeply regrets that viewers considered certain scenes to be objectionable in the recently launched fictional series Tandav,” the company said in a statement. “This was never our intention, and the scenes that were objected to were removed or edited when they were brought to our attention.” 

Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Tandav is a political-drama series starring Saif Ali Khan, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Sunil Grover, Dimple Kapadia and others. The show was accused of mocking the Hindu deity Shiva in one scene and also portraying the Indian Prime Minister in an adverse light.  

Several complaints were filed against the show at various locations. Earlier, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had summoned the makers, following which the controversial scenes were deleted or altered. 

In their statement, Amazon said it respects its viewers’ ‘diverse beliefs’ and apologises unconditionally to ‘anyone who felt hurt by these scenes.’

“Our teams follow company content evaluation processes, which we acknowledge need to be constantly updated to better serve our audiences,” the statement read. “We will continue to develop entertaining content with partners, while complying with the laws of India and respecting the diversity of culture and beliefs of our audiences.”