Netflix pulls down Nayanthara movie following criticism from Hindu organisations

An Indian movie that upset Hindu people has been taken off Netflix a few days after it was made available to watch.

Netflix removed the Tamil-language movie Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food because the company that owns the rights asked them to.

The movie features Nayanthara, who plays a Hindu Brahmin woman wanting to be a chef.

She goes against her family’s religious beliefs and eats meat, and she’s learning to cook it.

Many Brahmins do not eat meat because their caste rules do not allow it.

Extremist Hindu groups didn’t like some parts of the movie, like when the actress is shown praying as a Muslim before making biriyani.

Some Hindus were upset because a Muslim character in a scene said that the Hindu god Ram ate meat.

The people who made the movie have not said anything about the problem yet.

Nayanthara and two others linked to the movie are also facing a police case in Madhya Pradesh.

People who strongly believe in Hinduism have said that many movies and shows in the last few years have disrespected their religion. In 2021, the people who made a show called Tandav on Amazon Prime said sorry because they were accused of making fun of Hindu gods.

The movie Annapoorani came out in theaters on December 1st. Critics had different opinions about it. Some liked how it showed a woman from a traditional family going after her dreams, but others thought it had too many unfinished storylines.

India’s Central Board of Film Certification, also called the censor board, approved the movie for public showing.

However, the arguments started a few weeks after people saw it on Netflix, which started showing it on December 29th.

Last week, a man named Ramesh Solanki told the police in Mumbai that he didn’t like some parts of a movie. The police are deciding whether to take action. Solanki says he is a proud Hindu Indian who loves his country. He said this on X, which used to be called Twitter.

According to Reuters, a group called Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) shouted chants outside the Netflix office in Mumbai.

On Thursday, Mr. Solanki and a VHP spokesperson showed a letter of apology from Zee Entertainment Enterprises. This company owns Zee Studios, which helped make the movie Annapoorani.

“We don’t want to offend the Hindu and Brahmin community with our film,” the letter said.

The people making the film will fix any problems and are working with Netflix to take the film off the website until it is changed.

Zee did not reply to the email from the BBC asking for a comment.

Some people were glad that the movie was removed from Netflix, but others were upset about it. Actress Parvathy Thiruvothu said this would create a bad example.