‘Mirzapur shown as city of goons in web series’: Resident moves Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice on the plea of a Mirzapur resident, complaining against the web series Mirzapur and Amazon Prime Video for maligning the image of his native place in Uttar Pradesh. “Mirzapur has rich cultural value, but in 2018 Excel Entertainment has launched a web series named Mirzapur of nine episodes in which they have shown Mirzapur a city of goons and adulteresses,” said the plea. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, after a brief hearing in the matter, issued notice on the plea to the Union government, Excel Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Amazon Prime video.

The plea has been filed by Sujeet Kumar Singh through advocate Binay Kumar Das. The petitioner specifically objected to the portrayal of a woman hailing from the district having a sexual affair with a domestic worker as well as her father-in-law. “By showing such ridicules and shameless things on the name of a city/ district is the insult of approximately 30 lakh population and rich culture of Mirzapur,” added the plea.

The plea contended that the government should make some guidelines to prohibit bad portrayal of historical and cultural values of a city.

“Mirazapur is a place where the holy river Ganga meets the Vindhya range… The world-famous temple Vindhyachal Temple, which is also one of the 108 Shakti Peeth in India, is situated in Mirzapur district,” contended the plea objecting to its portrayal in bad light.
This plea comes after Surya Prabhat, Vice President of the Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) on Wednesday lodged an FIR at Ranchi’s Argora police station against the director and entire cast of Amazon Prime Video’s web series Tandav.  
“Through the web series, Constitutional norms have been violated. It was a deliberate attempt to create disturbance in communal harmony in the country. In the name of entertainment such things cannot be tolerated,” said the FIR.
“On a regular basis they make a mockery of Hindu culture in movies. The Sadhus and Pandits are shown as comedians. The gods and goddesses’ original shape are changed in movies. Hindu society is hurt by such acts,” Swami Divyanand Maharaj said on the matter.