Alarming to hold actors accountable for fictional roles: Artists on SC’s 'Tandav' decision

Supreme Court’s refusal to grant interim protection to Team Tandav and its observation that actors cant play roles hurting “religious sentiments of ors” has led to consternation in industry with many insiders worried about ro ahe for India’s “soft power”.  

A day after apex court ruling on starry political saga from Amazon Prime Video from which several scenes have alrey been cut, most Bollywood biggies were silent.

However, re were ors, including Pritish Nandy and Gulshan Devaiah who spoke of line between art and artiste being blurred and implications of it. Some asked how actors could be held accountable for who y played on screen.

On Wednesday, Supreme Court declined to grant interim protection from any coercive action to Tandav director Ali Abbas Zafar, actor Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub and ors facing multiple FIRs for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

Ayyub’s lawyer defended alleged objectionable part of web series, saying that as an actor he has artistic control over dialogues spoken by him. “You cant take up role without reing script. You cant play role hurting religious sentiments of ors,” bench remarked.

Viewing observations with alarm, several said it exposes actors, whose very job is to play varied characters, to legal trouble.

Screenwriter-lyricist Mayur Puri said it was "ridiculous" to hold an actor responsible for actions of a fictional character. "What I thought was particularly alarming was making a creator or an actor responsible for what a character does. That''s fiction! By that logic, you''d say Amrish Puri was a b person. He wasn''t, he just played those characters. It''s a rar stringent interpretation of law, it''s blindsided. It''s completely unwarranted," Puri told PTI.

RE: Konkona Sen Sharma reacts sharply after Supreme Court pulls up 'Tandav' makers & actors

"So from w on we have to play characters that are exactly who we are. Dear directors, writers & producers are you by any chance writing a role for a mic nerd identifying as a cis straight woman who is 5''8" and just right amount of weird & wonderfully astounding?" tweeted Scam 1992  actor Shreya Dhanwanthary.

Actor Gulshan Devaiah said SC's decision has left many actors in a quandary. "A lot of us are feeling this is a crack of whip and it is working, in sense that a lot of us are scared. One thing I find baffling and disturbing is actors are being targeted through FIRs. We are contractually obligated with companies, who offer us contract and if you refused to do something that you have agreed to n you are breaking contract and y can sue you and take you to court," he said

At centre of Tandav controversy is a scene that shows Ayyub''s student leer Shiva playing Bholenath, ar name for Lord Mahev, in a college atrical production, for which makers apologised and even decided to implement changes under pressure.

Filmmaker Onir, who described apex court's decision as s, said entire industry should be protesting as it affects everybody. “Somehow that collective voice is missing, for whatever reasons it seems to be divided but it is absolutely unfortunate," Onir told PTI, also citing backlash faced by shows such as Leila, A Suitable Boy and Mirzapur.

“re is end to this. It is very s that we are turning our country into a which will suffocate art. Different opinions flourish and it is ok, one can criticize, debate but don’t throttle it. It is extremely s that something like this is happening, especially when platform has alrey reedited series,” he said.

Producer Pritish Nandy said people have right to disapprove or criticise but intimidating a creative team is just wrong. "We are globally recognised for our content today. That is why it is so s to see what is happening to shows like 'Tandav' and 'Mirzapur' which have h phemenal response orwise… re are far simpler remedies available. Use those," Nandy told PTI. writer-producer said suppression of creative voice would diminish India’s role as a global soft power.

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"We are becoming more and more intolerant. Fringe groups are trying to set creative nda for India. This is tragic and self defeating because India is a phemenally talented nation and to suppress its talent, its genius would be grossly unfair."

In vember last year, government brought OTT platforms, online news and current affairs content under ambit of Ministry of Information and Brocasting, giving it powers to regulate policies and rules for digital .

So far, re was law or automous body governing digital content in India.