Jharkhand BJP’s youth wing lodged an FIR at Ranchi's Argora police station against the makers of Tandav, a newly released web-series on Amazon Prime, accusing them of hurting Hindu sentiments, Wednesday’s move following similar complaints by right wing activists in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

BJP youth wing president Surya Prabhat, in his formal complaint to police, named director Ali Abbas Zafar, the producer, the writer and cast members, including Saif Ali Khan and Md Zeeshan Ayub, seeking action against them under various sections of IPC.

Prabhat said they would stage protests across the state to demand a ban on the web-series if action wasn’t taken against its makers. “There is a scene where Hindu gods are depicted in an inappropriate manner and dialogues attributed to them hurt everybody’s sentiments. If that is called creativity and artistic liberty then it has to be stopped,” Prabhat said.

“It is high time we draw a line to define ‘artistic liberty’. There is already a widespread anger among Hindus against this episode. We demand a ban on this series till the makers mend their ways as it is aimed at testing one’s religious tolerance,” he added.

Tandav, is a political drama in nine parts about the power struggle after the death of a Prime Minister. The scene being cited by many Hindu outfits is the one in the 17th minute of the first episode where the actor is playing Lord Shiva dressed in western attire during a play. The narrator tells Shiva that his popularity on social media is on wane vis-à-vis that of Lord Ram's. Then, Shiva asks if he needs to change his profile picture. In the same scene, Narad Muni advises him to do something sensational to get more followers.

Even though Tandav director has apologised and agreed to change a few scenes, the controversy refuses to end. Many BJP leaders are still demanding action against the makers of the web-series.