In Tandav, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub basically plays himself
It is safe to say that Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub wears his politics on his sleeve and doesn't mind rolling it up and getting down into the muck, as and when required. Case in point, the new Amazon Prime web series, Tandav.
When the students of VNU staged a modern play, with Lord Shiva and Narad Muni as the primary characters, little did they know that their political satire would resonate outside the OTT screens they were playing within and result in an all-out political Tandav. But it did. When Narad joked, asking Shiva to do something about his followers, for Lord Ram seems to be leaving him behind in the popularity race, a section of the audience was left offended. That the actor essaying the role of Lord Shiva on stage, Shiva Shekhar on the show, was Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, did not make things any better.
Social media erupted with pointed jibes at the Article 15 actor. Some even went as far as to say that 'Muslim artistes seem to always go after Hindu gods' - Tandav is after all directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, too. But, while Amazon Prime Video and Tandav are being served a seven-course meal of FIRs, with them eventually bending over backwards to accommodate everyone's hurt sentiments, we cannot help but wonder how Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub is basically just playing himself in Tandav. For Shiva Shekhar is nothing different from the actor's social media persona. And by extension, he's often had unsavoury brushes with the central government.
Watch the trailer of Tandav here:
ZEESHAN ON FARMERS' PROTEST
The year 2020 ended and 2021 began with farmers protesting against the Farm Bills set in motion by the Centre. While Diljit Dosanjh led the Twitter war of words from the front, especially against Kangana Ranaut, Zeeshan was right behind him, and with the farmers, even at Singhu border. Taking a cheeky jibe at, no points for guessing who, Zeeshan shared a picture with Diljit and wrote, "Kuch nahi, bas aap logon ko jalane ke liye. Jee haan, yeh aaj ki photo hai (sic)."
, !!
, ‘’ photo !!
@diljitdosanjh paaji, ! pic.twitter.com/laiFFSFskS — Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub (@Mdzeeshanayyub) December 3, 2020
he took to Instagram to share a video and pictures of himself standing in solidarity with the farmers. He captioned them, "Singhu Border. Ground Zero. #istandwithfarmers"
ZEESHAN ON UMAR KHALID
Those who've watched Tandav will be reminded of Umar Khalid's arrest, and the enforcement of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) when a particular student character is arrested on the show. Zeeshan's Shiva stands up for it exactly how he stood up for it off screen. In October 2020, Zeeshan shared a video reminding everyone that it had been over a month since Umar was arrested.
Umar Khalid was arrested on October 1, 2020, in a rioting case in Khajuri Khas area. This was in response to the case of communal violence that had broken out in Northeast Delhi on February 24, 2020, after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters. At least 53 people were left dead and around 200 were injured.
ZEESHAN AGAINST CAA
The protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) continued at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh until the novel coronavirus engulfed everything. And Zeeshan was among those very few who stood by the protesters till the very end. However, he was also the one who requested protesters to hold off their protests until the novel coronavirus crisis is brought under control. Zeeshan had said that while a break in the protests wasn't the best thing to happen at that time, given how strong the voices had gotten, he said he understood the gravity of the situation and that the coronavirus was a far bigger issue that needed to be dealt with urgently.
Until that happened, Zeeshan has been extremely vocal against the Centre and the CAA. Addressing a rally of a few thousands on CAA, Zeeshan had said, “My grandfather was a farmer. I never saw him. I don’t know if he had participated in the freedom struggle. Does that mean I am any less Indian? No, it doesn’t.”
ZEESHAN ON DR KAFEEL KHAN
In January, Dr Kafeel Khan was arrested by the UP Special Task Force from Mumbai for participating in an anti-CAA protest at Aligarh Muslim University on December 12, 2019. He was then booked under the National Security Act (NSA) in February 2020. When his release was delayed, despite a court order, Zeeshan had written on Instagram, "Aur kya saboot chaahiye iss baat ka ki ye sarkaar, desh ko taanaashaahee ke taraf le jaana chaahati hai!!! Inhein loktantra aur law and order se diqqat hai.!! (What more proof is needed that this government wants to take the country towards dictatorship !!! They are suffering from democracy and law and order. !!)"
ON 'LOVE JIHAD'
Zeeshan's wife Rasika Agashe also speaks her mind, and when social media was busy boycotting Tanishq for the Hindi-Muslim wedding ad, Rasika shared a picture from her baby shower with the text, "Meri godbharai.. socha share kar dun.. and before crying out love jihad, lets learn about special marriage act (sic)," reminding everyone of the Special Marriage Act.
Meri godbharai.. socha share kar dun.. and before crying out love jihad, lets learn about special marriage act.. pic.twitter.com/BUykrCriaC — rasika agashe (@rasikaagashe) October 14, 2020
Coming back to Zeeshan, if his character in Tandav reminds one of Kanhaiyaa Kumar, his role in Article 15 will remind everyone of Chandrashekhar Azad. It is safe to say that Zeeshan wears his politics on his sleeves and doesn't mind rolling it up and getting down into the muck, as and when required.
So, who will he take on the next time? We shall wait and watch.
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