A scene from Mira Nair’s Netflix show, A Suitable Boy, caused a conflict on Twitter. As per a section of Twitter users, a particular scene is promoting “love jihad.” The short clip from A Suitable Boy which has caught the attention of millions features a Hindu character Lata Mehra (Taniya Maniktala) kissing her Muslim lover inside the premises of a temple.
This has resulted in viewers boycotting the oldest and the most conventional OTT platform — Netflix. Netizens have questioned its makers about the hypothetical situation in which the roles would be reversed, or the kissing took place at a mosque instead of a temple.
BJP leader Gaurav Tiwari shared the video and slammed makers over filming the scene. He wrote, “In ‘A Suitable Boy’ program, Netflix India filmed kissing scenes in the temple courtyard thrice in a single episode. According to the script, a Hindu woman is in love with a Muslim young man, but why was everyone shot in the kissing scene in the temple courtyard? I have lodged an FIR in Rewa on this matter.”
Well, this is not the first time that the boycott gang has targeted someone. Not too long ago, two TV commercials by renowned jewellery brand Tanishq took social media by storm where netizens threatened to boycott the brand. As a result of this chaos, Tanishq had to withdraw its advertisement from social media.
What is the reason behind it? Tanishq projected communal harmony in its advertisement directing the scene of a Muslim family organising a baby shower for their Hindu daughter in law. According to our troop of rebels, Tanishq was hurting “Hindu sentiments” and promoting “love jihad”.
Credit: Bingo!/YouTube
A few days back, this so-called rebel gang was boycotting an advertisement of snack brand Bingo featuring Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh. The reason behind it? Because Ranveer Singh was spewing random pretentious words in the advertisement using the words “paradoxical photons of strange algorithms”.
As per the fans of Sushant Singh Rajput, who rose after his death, the makers of this advertisement were trying to mock their idol. Some even go to the extent of saying that they are using his word as if SSR has copyright over these words.
Nowadays, some people have become so intolerant that everything offends them. I don’t know why their faith has become so fragile that a scene from a show or movie, or a cartoon regarding their God, offends them. A school teacher in France was beheaded recently for showing his students the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
I agree that freedom of speech doesn’t mean that we have the right to hurt anyone’s religious sentiments but beheading a person for that is not right either. And after all this, there is the boycott-gang on social media who backs these violent attacks.
In the era of social media, nothing stays hidden. But the harsh reality is people are using it to strong-hand others instead of using it as a tool to spread truth and help those people who need us.