KUALA LUMPUR – A meat-eating scene in the Tamil movie Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food has caused an uproar among Hindus in India, leading to its removal from streaming service Netflix.
Annapoorani, directed by Nilesh Krishna, premiered in cinemas in December and was available on Netflix soon after.
Checks found that the movie has been deleted from Netflix as of yesterday.
Hindus are India’s largest religious grouping and Hindu priests, as well as their families, are typically vegetarian.
Lead actress Nayanthara also received backlash for her role amid police reports in Mumbai by protesters. She plays the daughter of a Hindu temple priest in the southern state of Tamil Nadu eating meat and later cooking chicken legs during a high-stakes contest.
The Times of India reported that the movie would be reuploaded on Netflix once the contentious scenes and dialogue are removed or altered.
Netflix has yet to comment on the matter.
On Wednesday, Hindu hardliners protested against Netflix and the movie at the company’s Mumbai office.
It is not the first time Hindus have protested over a movie.
In 2021, Amazon apologised for some scenes in its series “Tandav”, which was deemed offensive to Hindus.
Netflix and Amazon are popular in India and are forecasted to grow into a US$7 billion market by 2027. – January 12, 2024