The Jodhpur District and Session court in Rajasthan, on 14 December issued notice to Bollywood producer and director Prakash Jha and actor Bobby Deol in a case filed against their web series Ashram, which is streaming on OTT platform MX Player.
The petitioner, advocate Khush Khandelwal, said he had moved the court against the web series as Hindu gurus have been shown as rapists and drug traffickers in the show. This has hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus, he claimed. Khandelwal added that he decided to take legal action after his attempts to file an FIR with the Kudi police station were unsuccessful. The case is scheduled to be heard next on 11 January.
Following the news, the hashtag #BanAshramWebseries began trending on Twitter with several social media users claiming the makers of the series were maligning the Hindu faith and were "anti-Hindu".
Reacting to the notice, Prakash Jha said such a response was inevitable. He told Mumbai Mirror,
"When you make something that affects the masses, a polarised reaction is to be expected."Prakash Jha, Filmmaker
He maintained that the characters on the show are fictitious and does not explicitly mention any religion. He claimed that the show has received a billion views, which is proof of its popularity. "From this I gauged that people love to watch such content. I can't imagine why though!" he said.
Ashram is purportedly based on self-proclaimed godman and head of the Dera Sacha Sauda Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who has been convicted of rape and the murder of a journalist. Bobby Deol plays a conman posing as a baba with Darshan Kumar as a cop determined to expose his deceit.
(With inputs from IANS)
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