Anurag Kashyap Hails Rahul Gandhi's 'Sacred Games' Take, Some Unimpressed

The controversy surrounding Netflix's new show 'Sacred Games' over a line critical of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi refuses to die. While his son Rahul Gandhi's statement on the subject earned a thumbs up from co-director Anurag Kashyap, others jumped into the debate with their own two bits.

"That's a yay," said Mr Kashyap quoting Rahul Gandhi's tweet. The Congress president had earlier voiced his opinion on Twitter.

That's a yay ... https://t.co/umv05MLJXc

— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) 14 July 2018

But director Madhur Bhandarkar reacted to the tweet too, posting a video, which he claimed was "a compilation of the harrowing experience" he faced around the release of his film 'Indu Sarkar' that had been seen to be critical of Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi - Mr Gandhi's grandmother.

Mr Bhandarkar alleged Congress party workers "tried to police & control my FOE (freedom of expression)".

Dear @RahulGandhi ji here is a compilation of the harrowing experience I had when ur party workers tried to police & control my FOE during my film #InduSarkar I was hounded at various cities to 5 star hotel to the censor board office. I requested 4 ur support but u didn't. pic.twitter.com/1y93DgVOXm

— Madhur Bhandarkar (@imbhandarkar) 15 July 2018

Amit Malviya, head of BJP's IT cell replied to Madhur Bhandarkar's tweet, saying Rahul Gandhi "is no champion of free speech". In the tweet, he questioned the commitment to the freedom of expression of generations of Gandhi family members "from Nehru to Indira then Rajiv and most recently Sonia", and ended by saying Rajiv Gandhi's "legacy of Bofors & Shah Bano are well known to the people of India".

Rahul Gandhi and his family is no champion of free speech. From Nehru to Indira then Rajiv and most recently Sonia, each one of them has muzzled freedom of expression. Despite such dictatorial tendencies, Rajiv's legacy of Bofors & Shah Bano are well known to the people of India. https://t.co/VPvlguFKND

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) 15 July 2018

'Sacred Games', despite becoming a critical darling, has racked up three separate complaints across the country, two of which are from Congress activists, while all three are over ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's portrayal. The two complaints have as of now, not been withdrawn yet, despite Rahul Gandhi's tweet.

'Sacred Games' shows Rajiv Gandhi in archive footage and talks about different incidents in Indian political history during his rule, in the disparaging voice of fictional Mumbai gangster Ganesh Gaitonde, portrayed by Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

Besides Mr Kashyap, actor Swara Bhasker too praised Rahul Gandhi's stance, saying it was "gracious & mature that he is able to set aside the personal for the larger goal of democratic rights".