Actor Nayanthara has issued an apology days after her film ‘Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food’ was accused of hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Nayanthara apologised saying she and her team did not intend to hurt anyone’s sentiments. Her statement came a few days after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the film over the allegations that certain scenes in the movie have hurt the Hindu sentiments, disrespected Lord Ram and promoted ‘love jihad’ through the movie. It also came after the film was removed from the OTT platform Netflix. 

In her post on Thursday, Nayanthara said, “In our sincere attempt to share a positive message, we may have inadvertently caused hurt. We did not expect the removal of a censored film, previously showcased in theatres, from the OTT platform. My team and I never intended to hurt anyone’s sentiments and we understand that the gravity of this issue. Being someone who wholely believes in God and frequently visits temples across the country, it is the last thing I would intentionally do. To those whose feelings we’ve touched, I extend my sincere and heartfelt apologies”. 

“The intention behind ‘Annapoorni’ was to uplift and inspire, not to cause distress Over the last two decades, my journey in the film industry has been guided with a singular intention – To spread positivity & foster learning from one another,” Nayanthara added.

The Tamil film ‘Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food’ features Nayanthara in the lead role. The film follows a girl from an orthodox Hindu Brahmin family aspiring to become a chef in the face of trials and tribulations. 

The movie, which was released in theatres on December 1, began streaming on Netflix on December 29. But it was subsequently removed from the OTT platform following FIRs and claims of hurting Hindu sentiments.  

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Some of the controversial scenes include Nayanthara’s character offering namaz in a hijab before cooking biryani and a friend allegedly influencing her to cut meat by claiming that Lord Rama and Goddess Sita consumed meat. The movie was also accused of promoting “love jihad”.  

Meanwhile, Zee Entertainment, a co-producer of the film, extended a written apology to the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). In it, the production house explained that it had never intended to hurt religious sentiments. It further assured the VHP, which is affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), that the film would not be released again until it was edited.

Prepare to get nostalgic because a Wizards of Waverly Place reboot is in the works. Selena Gomez and David Henrie who played Alex and Justin Russo, respectively are reuniting to produce the project. But everything is not what it seems (sorry, not sorry) as Gomez is reportedly only guest starring in the pilot.

The Wizards of Waverly Place reboot will see David Henrie’s Justin Russo reprising his role. He will be joined by new cast members Janice LeAnn Brown, Mimi Gianopulos and Alkaio Thiele.

As per reports, the plot of the series will revolve around a grown-up Justin who leaves wizardry behind after an incident at WizTech. He goes on to live a regular human life till he meets a young wizard who needs training. 

Selena, David, Jake T. Austin, David DeLuise and Maria Canals-Barrera starred in the original series that aired between 2007 to 2012. The show earned massive popularity and served as a launch pad for Gomez’s career.

The US on Thursday evaded a question on whether Pakistan held prior consultations with Washington before conducting retaliatory air strikes on Iran.

On media reports claiming Pakistan consulted the US before conducting strikes in Iran, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller, during a regular press briefing in Washington, said, “I do not have any private conversations to read out.”

Miller said the US is concerned about the escalating tensions in the region and has urged restraint on all sides.

He said there is no need for escalation in the matter and that the country has noted the Pakistani government’s comments about the importance of “cooperative relations between Pakistan and its neighbours.

In response to a question on how the US administration reads the situation between Iran and Pakistan, Miller said, “We are concerned about escalating tensions in the region. It’s been something we have spoken a number of times, we’ve focused on. We’ve been incredibly concerned about the potential for escalation since October 7.”

“That’s why we have engaged in intense diplomatic efforts to try to prevent escalation. We noted the comments from the government of Pakistan, about the importance of cooperative relations between Pakistan and its neighbours. We thought those were productive useful statements, and certainly, there’s no need for escalation and we would urge restraint on all sides in this case,” he added.

Matthew Miller called Iran a major funder of Hezbollah and a principal supporter of Hamas for years.

In another query about the ongoing tensions between Iran and Pakistan after strikes and counterstrikes, Miller said, “I think I made pretty clear yesterday what we think about Iran’s attacks, not just the strikes that were launched in the past three days against three of its neighbours but its long history of funding terrorism, funding instability and sowing discord in the Middle East. That’s something we have seen contribute to conflict in Gaza.”

Iran’s strikes in Pakistan came after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched missiles into Iraq’s Kurdistan region at what it called an Israeli “spy headquarters” and at alleged ISIS-linked targets in Syria, Al Arabiya News reported.

In response, Pakistan on Thursday launched missile strikes into Iran and codenamed it operation ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar’.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in a statement said it had undertaken a series of “highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts” in the Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran.

“A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation codenamed “Marg Bar Sarmachar,” it said.

Meanwhile, US State Department spokesperson Miller said: “You have seen Iran as the principal supporter of Hamas for years. They are the major funder of Hezbollah. They are one of the major funders of the Houthis. We have seen the consequences of the actions that Iran has taken to add to regional instability and that’s why we continue to take actions to hold Iran accountable and also send clear very messages to Iran that we don’t believe this should escalate in any way, shape or form.”

“Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally of the United States, and that will remain the case, but we would urge restraint in this case. We do not want to see escalation and don’t think there’s a need for escalation,” he added.

US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, John Kirby, said the US is monitoring the situation regarding Iran and Pakistan “very very closely” and they do not want to see escalation.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)