Though Pehredaar Piya Ki is getting Sony TV high TRPs, it has been getting a ton of flak on social media for its premise based on the marriage of an 8 year old Rajput prince with an 18 year old princess. The show has aired 16 episodes and the controversy around it doesn’t seem to be fizzling out anytime soon. A change.org petition has now been filed against the show, urging I&B Minister Smriti Irani to order it off air for its regressive content and references to a suhaag raat and honeymoon. Mansi Jain, who launched the petition, makes a strong plea against the Tejaswi Prakash and Afaan Khan starrer:
Pehredar Piya Ki, a 10-year-old impressionable little kid (“piya”) caressing and stalking a lady who’s more than double his age and filling sindoor in her “maang” is being telecasted at prime time 8:30pm on SONY. (Family time) It is to be devoured by the entire nation. Imagine the kind of influence it will steadily and perpetually infuse in the viewers mindset. We want a ban on the serial. We do not want our kids to be influenced by such TV serials. Join us in signing the petition to ban this serial (sic).Mansi Jain
The petition has garnered some serious momentum with 36,282 people supporting the argument that Pehredaar Piya Ki is unfit for viewing.
While the show has been mired by controversy ever since the release of its first promo, its lead actress Tejaswi Prakash stands in its defence saying that Pehredaar Piya Ki has a progressive message at its core.
I think it (Pehredaar Piya Ki) is really progressive. But again, a lot of people believe in judging a book by its cover... They love being judgmental and people have nothing better to do than judging somebody else’s work. Then okay, what can I do? I feel it’s just a story and fiction. It’s just a story that we are telling people. So how can you judge any story? You like it okay, you don’t like it, so, you don’t like it. We are not professors, we are not trying to teach you anything.Obviously, me and Ratan are not married to have babies. It’s different. Once people watch it and then they find it yucky or anything, then I would be fine and understand. There is nothing wrong that we have shown.Tejaswi Prakash, Actor (As reported by IANS)
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