So the entire issue with Disney Plus Hotstar’s troubled and controversial show seemed to be its title, ‘Kamathipura’. Doesn’t it seem obvious, considering that the much-delayed show will finally premiere on Disney Plus Hotstar under Hotstar Specials, but with a brand new name. Ladies and gentlemen, Kamathipura is now called ‘The Tattoo Murders’; it has begun streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar already, much later than its original International Women’s Day release date of 8th March (ha ha!); and no, we’re not an uncivil, regressive society pretending to live in the 21st century when we’re actually from the 17th century – certainly not! Whatever makes you think that, ha ha!
For those not in the know, Kamathipura is that area in Mumbai that houses the city’s largest and most notorious ‘red light area’. Now, for a show set in the backdrop of Kamathipura, it definitely had to have its share of crude expletives, sex scenes and vulgarity. And obviously, that wouldn’t have cut ice with the doyens of Indian culture – the dreaded Information and Broadcasting Ministry, which has advised OTT platforms to clean up their act of their own accord if they don’t want the big bad wolves (read: censor board) huffing and puffing outside their doors.
Come to think of it, why should anyone have an issue with the title Kamathipura, and the tropes that go with it. It’s a legit area in Mumbai, and everyone knows about it. It’s not like the makers of the series have plucked some seedy area of Amsterdam and planted it in dear old Aamchi Mumbai, is it? Then why the hullabaloo?
To come back to the matter at hand, Disney Plus Hotstar – ever the good boy – did as was expected by the government and the I&B Ministry. And voila! Here’s the newly-baptised crime thriller, ‘The Tattoo Murders’ — the sanitised, squeaky clean, shining symbol of the great Indian culture.
Oh, and in case you missed it, the original un-sanitised ‘Kamathipura’ was streamed by Prime Video in the USA at the end of March. Which makes it a difference of almost a fortnight from its US debut on Amazon Prime Video, and its Indian premiere on Disney Plus Hotstar.
The Tattoo Murders stars Meera Chopra, Tanuj Virwani, Anang Desai and Varun Joshi, and is directed by Shravankumar Trivedi. It is streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar.
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