Netflix removes Indian movies with meat-eating scenes after Hindu backlash

MUMBAI — Netflix has removed an Indian-language film from its platform after it received backlash on social media for depicting a Hindu priest’s daughter eating meat.

Hindus are India’s largest religious group, and Hindu priests and their families are usually vegetarians.

The Tamil film “Annapoorani,” which was released in theaters in December and aired on Netflix later that month, is no longer available on international streaming platforms as of Thursday.

Representatives for Netflix in India did not respond to requests for comment.

Protesters from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a hardline Hindu organization linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, attacked the company’s Mumbai office on Wednesday, according to a post on X by a VHP spokesperson. It is said that he shouted slogans against the movie. Shriraj Naar.

The film is about the daughter of a Hindu temple priest in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu who eats meat and then competes in a high-stakes cooking competition where she prepares the meat.

“This film… has been released deliberately to hurt Hindu sentiments,” Ramesh Solanki, who claims to be the head of an organization called the “Hindu IT Cell”, said on X (formerly Twitter). Stated.

Solanki said she had filed a complaint with the Mumbai police over the film, citing several scenes that she said were offensive to Hindus.

Netflix and rivals such as Amazon and Disney have often faced criticism from hardline religious groups in India, one of the world’s largest streaming markets.

In 2021, Amazon issued an unusual apology for some scenes in its series “Tandav,” which faced lawsuits and charges for insulting Hindus.

Netflix and Amazon are so popular in India that the sector is expected to grow into a $7 billion market by 2027, according to Media Partners Asia.

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