In the recent Amazon series
Tandav, a college student named Shiva is introduced as the eponymous Hindu deity in a mock-mythological play. With the celestial sage Narada, he devises social media strategies to counter the increasing popularity of Lord Rama in contemporary India, while the on-screen audience of the play bursts into roars of laughter.
Real-life Hindu nationalists in India, on the other hand, were enraged by this satirical sequence. Soon this video clip was made viral on Twitter by Hindutva groups, influencers and their followers as evidence of the show’s ‘Hinduphobia’. The ‘profane’ prospect of a Muslim actor-activist, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, caricaturing the deity intensified the social media agitation. In the following days, the show’s director issued a public apology, and the scene was removed from the series.