Mira Nair's series A Suitable Boy found itself in a new controversy over a scene in which the characters played by Tanya Maniktala and Kabir Durrani are seen kissing in a temple. While the former’s Lata Mehra is a Hindu, the latter’s character was a Muslim named Danesh Razvi. Soon the hastag ‘Boycott Netflix’ become a top trend, with Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Gaurav Goel stating that if any OTT platform was ‘deliberately insulting’ Hindu Gods and Goddess, one should file a complaint with the police or local court under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code.
Actor-TV personality Rahul Mahajan was among the others who expressed his displeasure over the scene. He wrote, "A Muslim man kissing a Hindu woman during the Ram Aarti was ‘creative freedom’. But when a Hindu man and Muslim women would kiss in a mosque during Azaan, this creative freedom would go missing.’Madhya Pradesh MP Narottam Mishra also expressed his displeasure. In a video message, he said that the content hurts religious sentiments and says it is worthy of legal intervention.
A Suitable Boy also stars Tabu, Ishaan Khatter, Ranvir Shorey, Vijay Verma, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rasika Dugal, Vivaan Shah, among others. The series is based on Vikram Seth's novel of the same name, that had relesed in 1993.The plot of the series traces characters in the post-Independence era and is set in Lucknow. It also traces the riots and other real incidents of that era. The series had first aired on BBC One in July. It was recently released on Netflix along with Hindi dubbing. The series features six episodes in total.