Netflix removes Nayanthara’s Annapoorani after ‘Love Jihad’ controversy, producers apologize

New Delhi: After facing major backlash from the fans & Hindu outlets over its controversial take on the Hindu religion, Lady Superstar Nayanthara’s Annapoorani was finally pulled down from OTT platform Netflix on Thursday.

Soon after its arrival on the digital platform, the Nayanthara starrer, directed by Nithlesk Krishna, ignited a huge controversy by offending a large section of the Hindu community, who went on calling for the film’s removal from the platform while slamming its makers over the outrageous dialogues, objectionable scenes & glorification of ‘love jihad’ in the movie.

Annapoorani removed from Netflix

As a result of the controversy, Netflix, without giving any prior notice, decided to take out Nayanthara’s flick from their platform, and soon, the film vanished from the same OTT portal where it was holding one of the top positions (In terms of Netflix’s internal ranking) by yesterday (Wednesday), enjoying significant popularity amongst the audience.

Meanwhile, Annapoorani’s production company Zee Studios also issued an apology for the entire controversy while asserting that they had no intentions to disrespect the sentiments of the Bharamin or the Hindu community. Zee also informed that they will re-release Annapoorani on Netflix very soon after cutting out the objectional scenes from the movie.

Annapoorani’s controversial scenes

We are strictly warning you @NetflixIndia to immediately withdraw this evil movie of yours or else be ready to face legal consequences and @BajrangDalOrg style action.@ZeeStudios_ pic.twitter.com/AVX9h4jHQ6

— Shriraj Nair (@snshriraj) January 9, 2024

For the unversed, the controversy erupted when several users started voicing their anger against Annapoorani by sharing numerous clips featuring controversial scenes from the film on social media.

One of the two scenes that infuriated netizens the most saw Nayanthara, who plays the role of a Bharimin girl, offering namaz and making Biriyani in a cooking competition after falling in love with a Muslim boy. In another objectionable part of the film, Farhan is seen referring to lord Rama as a “meet eater” while convincing Nayanthara’s character to cook meat.

How can a 13 year old girl brought up in Brahmin family love the smell of non veg #Annapoorani #BoycottBollywood #boycottnetflix @nanayantara75 pic.twitter.com/EocmMGdcec

— Satya Sahu (@SatyaSah24) January 10, 2024

Besides these two problematic scenes, users have highlighted several other parts of the movie that allegedly promoted love Jihad & demeaned the sentiments of the Hindu Community.

About Annapoorani

With Nayanthara as the leading Protagonist, Annapoorani, helmed by Nithlesh Krisha, tells the tale of a Brahimin girl who is passionate about cooking and dreams of becoming a well-known chef. However, the religious beliefs & food habits of her strict Hindu conservative family stand in her way of pursuing her dreams as the family members always protest against her preparing & consuming non-veg meals.

Besides the Lady Superstar, the Tamil drama also features Jai, Sathyaraj, Kartik Kumar, and Renuka in other pivotal roles. It was released in theaters under the banner of Zee Studios & Naad Studios on 1 December  2023.