Director Anubhav Sinha is no stranger to controversy. His political views and candid opinions have been trolled in the past while his movies tend to get positive reviews.
In the latest controversy, he is under fire for the Netflix web series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack. This time, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has called in the head of content at Netflix for a meeting on September 3 to address issues related to the IC 814 web series.
People on social media suggest that the Netflix series has deliberately hidden the true identities of the terrorists involved in the 1999 hijacking. Instead of giving out their real “Muslim” names, the show's makers have used names like Bhola, Shankar, Burger, Doctor and Chief.
Addressing these claims, Bollywood casting director Mukesh Chhabra has said that the terrorists used aliases and that the series was based on thorough research.
Meanwhile, a pinned comment on Sinha’s X (formerly Twitter) profile comes into focus again as people have started replying. The pinned comment from May 2020 is the filmmaker’s message to his trolls.
“Intelligence Manners Facts Humour. You must have at least two of the above to qualify to troll me. Or else you will be blocked. F*ck You in advance!!!” the post says.
Some social media users have apparently assumed it to be the filmmaker’s recent response amid the IC 814 controversy and reacted accordingly.
In reply, one of the users wrote, “Why should / will someone abuse or troll you? Fact: why did you rename the original Hijackers of IC 814: Ibrahim Akhtar Shahid Akhtar Sayeed Sunny Ahmed Qazi Zahoor Mistry Shakir. As Bhola, Shankar, Burger & Doctor in a film on IC 814 & intentionally legitimized the bogey of Hindu terror?”
“Anubhav Sinha’s report card: Intelligence- Even a 5th grader has more, Manners - can’t expect from D-graded Bollywood, Facts- how to twist facts and spread negativity, Humour- yeh khud hi ek majak hai (He’s a joke himself),” wrote another.
“Mr Abhinav, how can you use our beloved god Shankar name as one of the Muslim terrorist?” asked another.
In his most recent post, Sinha expressed gratitude for people appreciating the web series: “I have received so much love in the last three days that I cannot describe it. I am indebted.”
Meanwhile, the search for “IC 814” on Google shows high trends:
