Prasar Bharati’s Ramayana gets into Twitter controversy

MUMBAI: Any news is good news is an adage many have followed and touted. But Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati did not expect that Ramayana which is currently getting the country glued to Doordarshan’s channels and to the TV to be caught in the thick of controversy over the source for telecasting the series on the public broadcaster.

It all started with tweet from independent journalist Neha Dixit, in which she said: “Apologies for the inane tweet. But Doordarshan, India’s national broadcaster, is streaming Ramayana from a Moser Baer DVD. Along with the watermark.” 

As proof, she posted a screen capture of Arun Govil, who plays Ram in the show, prominently displaying the watermark. 

That got Shashi Shekhar’s goat who promptly responded: “This does not seem to be from Doordarshan, please recheck your source.”

To which,  Neha did not respond. 

That started a war on twitter with hundreds of twitterati blasting Dixit and one of the publications she writes for – The Wire. Some twitterati also suggested that DD should sue her for her brand of journalism. 

But both Shashi Shekhar and Neha chose to stay mum, even though many of his followers said that the screengrab has been taken from a YouTube channel – where the show is running – and is being passed of as that from DD.