Bollywood actor and producer Anushka Sharma’s new crime thriller web television series Paatal Lok, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 15 May 2020, has found itself surrounded by various controversies since the time of its release. In the latest, BJP MLA Nandkishore Gurjar from Uttar Pradesh has filed a complaint against Anushka Sharma, who is the producer of the show. The complaint states that she used his photo in the show without his permission.
Gurjar demanded that a case should be filed against Anushka under National Security Act, for causing a communal stir.
Besides, the BJP MLA from Ghaziabad also mentioned in his complaint about the show allegedly offending all communities of the Sanatan Dharma and showing Indian investigating agencies in a bad light. Seeking a ban on the web series the MLA accuses the makers of anti-nationalism. He also argued that it shows Gurjars as dacoits and people associated with malpractices.
He has submitted a written complaint in the Loni station and has also written a letter to the minister of Information and Broadcasting regarding the issue, demanding that web series should also be brought under there censor board.
https://twitter.com/nkgurjar4bjp/status/1264589007712747520?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThe BJP MLA Nandkishore Gurjar’s has claimed that the makers of the series have taken a real image of a news article when UP CM Yogi Adityanath had inaugurated a highway project and had used it by morphing some faces, insinuating that the project was a scam.
Gurjar claimed that his photo and that of some other leaders were used in the web series as it is. He also shared the original picture in which Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath can be seen too. He claimed it was an act to portray the party in a bad light.
He also accused the makers of promoting a communal stir among the communities like his own Gurjar caste, Jaat and others.
The BJP MLA added that the web series has projected the Central Bureau of Investigation too in a bad light while ‘hurting India’s mission against terrorists’. accusing the makers of giving ‘clean chit’ to Pakistani agencies and trying to rid it of its ‘terrorist nation’ tag.
He also wrote that the series uses derogatory stereotypes against different Hindu communities and even indulges in blatant Hinduphobia by deliberately showing Hindus as the perpetrators of mob lynching incidents and other criminal activities.
Using the hashtag #ArrestAnushkaSharma, the MLA demanded that the show be pulled down immediately.
All Arunachal Pradesh Gorkha Youth Association complains against Paatal Lok
Prior to this, the series had managed to miff the Gorkha communities which had filed NHRC complaint against Anushka Sharma for ‘racial stereotyping’ in ‘Paatal Lok’. On May 18, the All Arunachal Pradesh Gorkha Youth Association took to Facebook to share a screengrab of their complaint along with a caption, detailing how the alleged sexist and racial slur malign their identity.
“We on behalf of the gorkha people and every Nepali speaking person had filed a complaint at NHRC regarding the discrimination and humiliation witness in an incident of insulting Nepali speaking women has come to light in the web series “Patal Lok” running on Amazone Prime. In one part of the series, a female police officer grabs an arrested woman by the thigh and says “Saali Nepali Ra..di. Foreigner log ko deti hai”. Gorkhali people are hurt with such direct insult to Nepali speaking people. The series seems to have hurt the community and there is a strong protest on social media by Nepali speaking people against this web series “Paatal Lok” for presenting such an insulting, demeaning and derogatory dialogue. It is learned that the producer of this web series “Patal Lok” is Anushka Sharma, a famous actress of the Indian film industry”, read the caption.
Additionally, the youth wing of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh- Bharatiya Yuva Gorkha Parisangh, had also started an online campaign against the web series, alleging that in the second episode, a Nepali-speaking woman had been maligned by the maker and had demanded that the slur to be muted, subtitles blurred and that the video is uploaded with an apology.
Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma is yet to respond to the allegations meted out against her web series Paatal Lok