Culture news Netflix capitulates: this film is deleted after hostile reactions and complaints to the Police!
With great power comes great responsibility. Number 1 in SVOD services across the world with its 247 million subscribers at the end of 2023, Netflix inevitably finds itself the target of controversy concerning this or that program put online. In January 2024, a part of India is stepping up and forcing Netflix to remove a film from its catalog.
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Tamil film targeted
A Netflix film is at the origin of a new controversy which is gaining more and more momentum in India to the point that the SVOD service has simply removed the program from its catalog while waiting for the producer to censor the controversial scenes . Released on December 1, 2023 in cinemas then on the 29th on Netflix, Annapoorani – The Goddess of Food is a Tamil drama directed by Nilesh Krishnaa and co-written with Prasanth S. which tells the story of a young woman aspiring to become “the best chef in India”.
However, its presence on the streaming platform was short-lived. Under popular pressure, Netflix removed Annapoorani – The Goddess of Food on January 11, 2024 indefinitely. The film is accused of promoting “love jihad” (a pejorative phrase created by Hindu nationalists accusing Muslim men of marrying Hindu women to convert them to Islam) and of giving an erroneous representation of Hindus. Some scenes deemed problematic feature the daughter of a Hindu temple priest eating meat even though they are generally vegetarians.
Members of the nationalist organization Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) which maintains close links with the party of Prime Minister Narenda Modi did not fail to react by chanting slogans against Netflix directly in the premises located in Mumbai of the northern firm -American (according to the words of their spokesperson Shriraj Nair). For Ramesh Solanki who is the head of the “Hindu IT Cell” organization, Annapoorani – The Goddess of Food was “released intentionally to hurt Hindu sentiments.” The latter would have even filed a complaint with the Indian authorities (the Mumbai Police) listing the scenes deemed offensive.
India becomes a crucial territory in 2024 for SVOD services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ which are competing to conquer a market estimated at $7 billion by 2027 (figures from Media Partners Asia). It is therefore not surprising to see these entertainment giants react quickly to the slightest controversy affecting the films and series available on their respective platforms in India. It remains to be seen whether Annapoorani – The Goddess of Food will return (or not) to Netflix and to what extent it will be censored!
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