'A Suitable Boy' in controversy over Love Jihad

#BoycottNetflix has been trending on the Indian Twitter wherein people are criticising a particular scene in the movie over a controversy around Hindu gods and holy lands aired in Netflix leading the hashtag to trend. Netizens have been accusing Netflix, a leading OTT platform for its web series 'A Suitable Boy' for showing interrelated love and allegedly promoting Love Jihad. The web series that streamed on Netflix featured a romantic scene in a temple setting, which led to the call for a boycott.

A section is campaigning on Twitter with the hashtag #BoycottNetflix, along with the controversial video. Gaurav Tiwari, a member of the BJP Yuva Morcha in Rewa, has objected to the series. He has registered an FIR against Netflix with Rewa police. He also accused Netflix that through the series, they hurt the sentiments of Hindu society. The BJP leader tweeted, "Netflix India is using this holy land to promote love-jihad and hurt Hindu sentiments." "Netflix India Filmed kissing scenes in the temple courtyard three times in the same episode. According to the script, a Hindu woman is in love with a Muslim young man, but why were everyone shot in the kissing scene in the temple courtyard? I have lodged an FIR in Rewa on this matter." He also demanded an apology from the streaming app.

'A Suitable Boy' is the latest BBC period drama series that was created after the iconic Peaky Blinders, inspired by the best-selling 1993 novel of the same name by author Vikram Seth, which tells the tale of a young woman's search for love and identity in India during the 1950s. In the seven-plus decades since India's independence, many things have changed, but the single-minded determination of Indian mothers to get their daughters married is not one of them. The film portrays four families and focuses on one of Mrs. Rupa Mehra's key life goals: seeking a husband for her younger daughter, Lata. The search by Mehra to find her daughter Lata 'a suitable boy' can be seen as how the storyline gives its title to the plot.

There were plenty of instances where these Boycott hashtags had trended earlier for hurting the sentiments of Hindus for highlighting Love Jihad or portrayal of Hindu gods and goddesses. Anushka Sharma's recent movie Bulbul faced criticism for demeaning Hindu god and goddess, Rabindranath Tagore's classic 'Kabuliwala', showing a Hindu girl offering namaz, Netflix's 'Chhipa' and Laxxmi Bomb, for references of Hindu god Hanuman and goddess Laxmi, 'Krishna And His Leela', for allegedly spreading Hinduphobia and Anurag Basu's Netflix Film Ludo starring Pearley Maaney for their Banal Cow And Mandir Jokes.

The central government, meanwhile, had released an order restricting OTT websites and news portals on November 11. Accordingly, the Central Government will track and control information on films, documentaries, news and political developments, via digital portals. To start with, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered OTT websites and news portals such as Amazon Prime and Netflix to be transferred. A Suitable Boy has an astonishing cast, led by Ishaan Khatter, Tabu and Tanya Maniktala.