The year of controversies

The OTT platforms have been known for putting up controversial material since their advent. The year 2021 brought us a whole new wave of controversies. Let’s take a quick look at the movies that sparked heated discussions this year.

The poster of Jai Bheem; Image source: Times of India

The OTT platforms give a lot of freedom to the filmmakers, a lot more than they used to receive in the era of television or direct broadcasting but this freedom comes at the cost of ruffling some feathers in the way.

The movie ‘Jai Bheem’ directed by Gnanavel and produced by Jyothika and Suriya (who also played the main lead) released in November 2021 was expected to be one of the boldest movies of the Tamil Cinema. The movie in under a month became not only a national hit but an international one. With a solid script and incredible portrayal of characters by actors the movie shows the lack of humanity in society and court but in the end, restores hope in the justice system of India.

However, the name itself didn't sit well with many people. The name represents Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the saviour of the lower castes which many thought wasn’t a suitable one. The Vanniyar community also said the movie defames their caste.

The film is regardless nothing short off bold showing the reality that happens, incidents that don’t make headlines. Sparking discussion and debates internationally, Jai Bheem that streamed on Amazon Prime has beaten IMDB ratings of classic movies like The Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather.

The next series we talk about is ‘Family Man 2’, the much-awaited sequel of Family Man. Family Man was a real hit series for the year 2019. The series finale was a heart wrecking cliffhanger that left viewers wishing for more. The Family Man 2 didn’t disappoint its viewers and raised a lot of new issues that people try to avoid just like the first one did. However, many felt this one was a tad much as this time they picked the issue of Eelam Tamils. Rajya Sabha member and MDMK leader Vaiko expressed that this painted the Tamilians in a negative light to broadcasting directors. Despite all this, the series was a hit just like the previous one. Perhaps this is because Family Man is based on the concept that if there is an issue let’s not shy away from it. Sometimes this kind of mentality can hurt sentiments and create bad blood among communities. However, the ‘Family Man’ mostly tries to show the two sides of the story and the communication gap that leads to misunderstandings.

‘The Empire’ is another series that rose to fame just after their trailer. It shows the life of Babur, the first ruler of the Mughal dynasty and how he fled from his country, which now lies in Uzbekistan to invade India. You must already know that the Mughal dynasty and rulers are facing a backlash for the past few years as invaders who adulterated the traditional Indian custom. The series was said to glorify the invaders like Babur. Well, this conception of Mughal rulers is quite far fetched. In the end, the series didn't garner a lot of positive comments possibly because of the over-romanticisation of the dynasty’s founder.

The controversy around ‘Tandav’ was a lot more than the other series. The series which features Said Ali Khan, since the first episode became a hot topic. In the episode, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub is seen performing a college play where he is seen wearing a pantsuit, holding a 'damroo' and saying "What the F***. People got enraged saying it was an insult to Lord Shiva who plays damroo and a Twitter movement was started asking to ban the show. The creator issued an apology saying it wasn’t meant to insult anyone.

Taking all these stories into account one can see how the OTT is doing quite well considering the fact that for people to raise their voices about one tiny detail in the entire series they would have to watch the show first with great devotion. The next point worth observing is how the world of social media has brought people so much closer and it is now easier to gain momentum in spreading your thoughts. When a single person expresses themselves it’s an opinion, when ten more people join the same thought it becomes a trend and when a hundred people repost it, it becomes a fact.

There are talks of putting stricter laws on OTT platforms. Whether it’s the right decision or not is another discussion. For now, OTT platforms are definitely giving the makers of Indian shows and movies a huge audience not only from India but from all over the world.