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'Sacred Games' row: Netflix refuses to censor controversial Rajiv Gandhi dialogue

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Aug 09, 2018, 04:48 PM IST
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A man rides his scooter past a hoarding of Netflix's television series 'Sacred Games' in Bengaluru, Karnataka on July 11, 2018. Photograph:(Reuters)

Netflix has taken a tough stand against censorship and informed the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that they have not changed an alleged objectionable word that was used to describe the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in its original series titled Sacred Games. This is how Rahul Gandhi, son of Rajiv Gandhi responded on the whole issue. 

The legal counsel of Netflix headed by senior advocate Chander Lal told a bench of justices, Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar, that they neither have they changed the word in the English subtitles nor do they want to change it. 

"My instructions are that we don't want to change the word," senior advocate Chander Lal, appearing for Netflix, said.

Chander added that series is available on the streaming platform in several languages and versions. In one, the subtitle uses the alleged objectionable word while the other has a different word as these are translated by different people. 

All this started when a plea was filed by petitioner Nikhil Bhalla, through advocate Shashank Garg. It contended that the show, starring Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, "incorrectly depicts historical events of the country like Bofors case, Shah Bano case, Babri Masjid case and communal riots".

The bench listed the matter for further hearing on September 20. "Nobody is pressing or forcing you. You take your own decision, whether you want to change the word or not. We are not going to compel you," the bench orally said during the hearing.

The court had also observed that actors could not be held liable for enacting their characters and a person was entitled to express his views, which might be right or wrong.

Sacred Games has been in news ever since it started to stream for its nude scenes and verbal abuse used in the series. Here's our review of the series.