Ever since Netflix's Sacred Games create a huge furore overs its controversial political stance and strong nudity, there have been talks of censorship being applied to web shows. As of now OTT content doesn't need to take certification from the Censor Board. Thanks to Paatal Lok, Anushka Sharma-produced web-series on Amazon Prime Video, the debate is being raked up again with certain section of Twitterati, that's right-leaning, also demanding the boycott of the show. Virat Kohli Should Divorce Anushka Sharma For Producing Paatal Lok, Demands BJP MLA Nandkishor Gurjar; Files Sedition Case Against Her.

Paatal Lok received rave reviews from the critics, but some of the viewers found the series to be objectionable to their community. While an investigative thriller based in Delhi and UP, the show uses moments that reflects the persistent depravities of the current socio-political atmosphere in the country. Something you just need to open your daily newspaper to realise that Paatal Lok hasn't brought out anything out of its magical hat. That is, unless you are someone who believes that in this country, 'Sab Changa Si'!

Over the past couple of weeks since the series, starring Jaideep Ahlawat, Abhishek Banerjee, Neeraj Kabi and Gul Panag, started streaming on Prime, the haters have been raking up one controversy after another. Have to say some of the issues are pertinent, but most others are mere slander, accusing Sharma and the rest of the Paatal Lok team of showing the government, the country and Hinduism in the wrong light.

Here are seven main allegations that Paatal Lok is facing from political parties, community leaders and Twitterati.

Morphed Photo

This issue is something we can say that the complainant is right in raking up, though his solution is hilarious. BJP MLA Nandkishore Gurjar has filed a case against Anushka Sharma for using a morphed picture of his in the series. The real picture had him along with UP CM Yogi Adityanath during a public event. The series uses this picture and morphs a negative character's face (Anup Jalota's Bajpayee) on to the CM's face, but leaves Gurjar in the picture.

The Controversial Morphed Image and the Original News Clip (Photo Credit: Twitter)

He has filed a sedition case against the actress, though how a morphed picture can risk national security is something only he can answer. Gurjar also suggested that Virat Kohli should divorce Anushka over the show, because apparently to him, Kohli is oblivious of the content of the show. Fact: Kohli isn't! Virat Kohli Showers Praises on Wife Anushka Sharma's Series Paatal Lok as He Reviewed It Even Before Its Release!

Beef-Lynching

One of the strongest scenes in the film is when, in a flashback scene, a Muslim family of three is brutally beaten by a Hindutva mob for eating beef, with one killed in the process. In reality, they were actually having chicken curry. This has bothered the RW supporters for apparently showing Hindutva in a bad light. 'Cos in this country, no one has been killed or beaten for allegedly eating or possessing beef, right?

Racial Slurs

There is no question that Paatal Lok has a few racial slurs used by characters in the narrative. Like the protagonist use the objectionable slur word Kath*a while beating a Muslim suspect. No Islamic group have raised objection over this, but the Bharatiya Gorkha Yuva Parisangh, the youth wing of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, had raised objection over another scene. India News | Arunachal Gorkha Body Files NHRC Plaint Against Anushka Sharma for 'Sexist Slur' in Paatal Lok.

In that sequence, a lady constable while dragging a sex-worker into a cell, calls her an objectionable word used against Nepalis. The Parisangh, in its complaint, claims that this shows the community in poor light. Even All Arunachal Pradesh Gorkha Youth Association has filed a complaint with the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) over this scene.

While there is no doubt that the slur is used in the scene, it isn't to show the Nepali community in bad light. Instead, it merely reflects how such name-calling still exists in our society and in fact, is actually a critique such a mentality.

Revenge Rapes

Speaking of communities getting insulted, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Manjinder Singh Sirsa is also angry with Paatal Lok. He is annoyed with the depiction of certain Sikh characters in the series. There are scenes where members of higher Sikh caste are seen insulting the lower-caste members, using racial and sexual slurs. Another scene has a character rape the wife of a lower-caste villager in revenge. Sirsa feels that these scenes shows Sikhs in bad light and calls out Sharma and others for this in his tweet. He also demanded that I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar should ban the show.

Since Sirsa isn't much aware of what happens in his state, let's disclose something official here. As per a report in Indian Express, 4,357 and 5,058 crime cases against women were registered in 2017 and 2018 respectively, with conviction rate of less than 30%. Can someone file a defamation case on reality, please?

Anti-Hindutva

Expanding on the beef-lynching controversy, Paatal Lok, like Sacred Games, is accused of being anti-Hindutva. It is accused of portraying Hindu community in a bad light, by showing some of the characters commit atrocities over some members of Islamic community and the lower-caste groups. Recently, author Chetan Bhagat, while dismissing the controversy, tweeted that one show cannot tarnish a great religion like Hinduism. Paatal Lok: One Unsolved Mystery in Anushka Sharma’s Amazon Prime Series That Continues to Baffle Us Even After the Show Ends.

While the writer respects Mr Bhagat's view, he doesn't agree with the fact that Paatal Lok disrespects Hinduism in anyway, being a Hindu himself. The show only depicts miscreants, who use religion and caste card to commit atrocities, in poor light, and none of them are representations of Hinduism as both a religion and a culture. Just like a Muslim character shown as a terrorist shouldn't reflect badly on Islam as a religion. The writer, though admits even in his review, that the frequent references to Muslims being treated as outsiders and requiring constant validation in the series felt forced at times. Paatal Lok Review: Anushka Sharma’s Amazon Prime Series Is Powerful, Absorbing and Disturbing Boosted by Jaideep Ahlawat’s Knockout Act.

If you want a flowery representation of things in India, then better stick to Karan Johar movies, where even England is passed off as India.

Media Propaganda

An important track in Paatal Lok belongs to Sanjeev Mehra (Neeraj Kabi), who is initially shown as an editor and a news anchor with liberal values. Over the course of the show, he slowly transforms into an unrecognisable personality who detests the very values that he once stood for, bending truths for TRPs. Many feel that this is the show's dig on the Republic editor Arnab Goswami, who many claim once used to be a responsible journalist before allegedly turning into a pro-government mouthpiece. Paatal Lok: From Gory Murders to Child Abuse, 13 Moments in Anushka Sharma’s Amazon Prime Series That Are Bound to Leave You Shell-Shocked! (SPOILER ALERT).

Neeraj Kabi in Paatal Lok (Photo Credit: Prime Video)

One of the worst things Sanjeev does in the show is adding a terrorism angle to his near-murder attempt, even though he knows that there is little truth in the matter. Only because one of the suspects is a Muslim.

If you think that this is stretched, have you not heard of Corona Jihad and the other silly things news channels come up that some of our news channels come up on a daily basis?

While this piece will no matter change anyone's opinion - if that ever happened, then there was no need for this article to exist - here's a little suggestion to those who are trending #BoycottPaatalLok. You know that it isn't a film that is running in the theatres, right? You can actually not watch the show either in Prime, or in most cases in India, download it illegally from torrent sites. As easy as that! But free stuff kaun chodta hai, even if the contents is hurting your views!

(Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 27, 2020 05:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).