A lot of uproar has been heard recently in opposition to Amazon Prime Video‘s ‘Tandav’ supposedly for being Hindu-phobic and hurting religious sentiments. This even led the makers of the show to issue a public apology and also agree to censor certain objectionable portions. In turn it has reignited the fire of OTT censorship, that still hadn’t completely died down after Netflix’s ‘A Suitable Boy’ controversy.
A lot of opinions are raised when such incidents happen – from whether digital content should be regulated by the government or not, creative freedom and the right to express, self regulation of OTTs to propaganda based content, its effects and much more. But have you ever wondered that this someway or the other leads to content and platform marketing at minimal cost?
People who weren’t interested in Amazon’s ‘Tandav’ before would also go and watch it now so as to know what the buzz and fuzz is all about. That’s the reason more and more people watched the Amazon Original series, thus raising the viewership numbers and the time spent by viewers on the platform. And isn’t that the exact thing streaming services aim out for?
While no one wants to get caught up in a hot soup and anger the audience, at times, if planned out strategically and proportionately, it works well enough in catching the attention. Moreover a little apology later, doesn’t hurt anybody. This nowhere means that the ‘Tandav’ controversy was intentional, but we also cannot ignore the possibility.
Come to think of it, many would even rewatch ‘Tandav‘ after the cuts, so as to see how it affects the plot and its impact. Once again raising the time spent on the OTT platform which simultaneously reduces the time spent on any other streaming service or content. Now that’s like scoring a home run without even having to make any effort!