My father lived and died for India: Rahul Gandhi breaks silence on `Sacred Games` row

Rahul Gandhi said that views of a character on a fictional web series can never change the contribution of his father, Rajiv Gandhi, to the country.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday brushed aside the controversy over reference to his father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in Sacred Games, a web series featuring popular Bollywood actors Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The series was released on Netflix on July 6.

Taking to microblogging site Twitter, the Gandhi scion said that views of a character on a fictional web series can never change the contribution of his father, Rajiv Gandhi, to the country, asserting that the former prime minister “lived and died in the service of India”.

The Congress president also targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), accusing them of policing and controlling the freedom of expression.

Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “BJP/RSS believe the freedom of expression must be policed & controlled. I believe this freedom is a fundamental democratic right. My father lived and died in the service of India. The views of a character on a fictional web series can never change that.”

Nawazuddin Siddiqui has played a character named Ganesh Gaitonde, who is a don in Mumbai. The character has used foul and abusive language against Rajiv Gandhi. Just four days after the release of the first season of the series on Netflix, a Congress party supporter, Rajiv Sinha, filed a complaint at Kolkata’s Girish Park police station against Nawazuddin, Netflix and the producers of Sacred Games.

The complainant accused the makers of using inappropriate language while referring to Rajiv Gandhi. He also accused the makers of 'misrepresentation of facts' during a particular scene where Nawazuddin could be seen uttering foul language. The complainant has stated that ‘along with this, the serial also crosses all limits of decency and has taken Indian Film Industry to a new low.’

Sacred Games is based on Vikram Chandra's 2006 thriller novel of the same name. The novel was adapted by Smita Singh, Vasant Nath, and Varun Grover, and all eight, hour-long episodes were directed by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane.

It has been produced in partnership with Phantom Films. It stars Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Radhika Apte in lead roles.