By Lisa Tsering

India-West Staff Reporter

April 9, 1999 issue

The producers of the television series, "Xena: Warrior Princess," issued a public apology April 2 and announced that they were pulling the episode "The Way" from their domestic and international repeat schedules, in response to recent protests by over 100 Hindu organizations claiming that the show portrayed Lord Krishna as a fictional character (I-W, Apr. 2).

"No TV episode is worth this. It's better to remove the offensive material," the show's executive producer, Robert Tapert, told India-West in an exclusive telephone interview from his office in Los Angeles.

"Xena" is produced by Renaissance Pictures in New Zealand, where the show is filmed, and by Studios USA in Los Angeles.

The press release, sent by Renaissance Pictures to Daily Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and other entertainment industry publications in addition to Indian American media outlets, reads, "... We are genuinely sorry that we have offended members of the Hindu community and have no plans to produce any future episodes involving Hindu deities or personas. Because production constraints make it impossible to change 'The Way' now, we will pull the episode from worldwide syndication. If we later decide to air it again, we would first contact Sunil Aghi, founder and president of the Indo-Americans Political Foundation, to discuss the specific alterations that would need to be made."

Aghi, founder and president of the Indo-Americans Political Foundation, worked with Studios USA Group president Bob Fleming and vice president of media relations, Jim Benson, to craft the release. The decision was made by Tapert and his co-executive producer R.J. Stewart (who scripted the episode), under the guidance and request of Studios USA, said Tapert.

The protest was launched in late February by Tusta Krishnadas, spokesman for the Mathura-based World Vaishnava Association, and Pratap More of American Hindus Against Defamation.

Aghi, whose connections into mainstream politics and entertainment reach from the White House to executives at Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios in Los Angeles, told India-West that he was first introduced to the story by Avdhesh Agarwal, Vijay Telkikar of the American Hindu Federation, Gopal Chaturvedi, vice president of the American Hindu Federation, and Chander Mittal, chairman of IAPF. "We know the community's problems, and we saw that (Krishnadas and More) weren't going anywhere," said Chaturvedi. "Sunil had the contacts, so we asked him."

Aghi spent two hours with Fleming and Benson last week watching "The Way" and explaining that if the episode were aired again, it would spark further protest as well as a "boycott of the sponsors, the studios and the TV stations," he said. "In India, people would have boycotted all the American made products just because of this show."

Yet, despite their seeming victory, Hindu protesters are not satisfied by the announcement, saying that they only heard about it through the media and had not been contacted personally with an apology - and that they had not had their organizations mentioned by name in the press release.

"They should have apologized to us directly," Krishnadas told India-West. "It's like an apology whispered in a closet ... they're still snubbing us."

Pratap More, on behalf of AHAD and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, agreed. "They should go to religious authorities, not politicians," he said. The WVA and AHAD had also requested a joint press conference with the show's producers, who declined the request.

But despite his differences of opinion with the show's producers, Krishnadas considers the protest a success. "The victory belongs to Lord Krishna, Hanumanji, their devotees, and everybody who holds the Hindu literature sacred," he said.

Telkikar was pleased with the announcement and praised Studios USA and Renaissance Pictures for their action. "I feel it was an act of great understanding on their part," he said. "We should appreciate their gesture."

His sentiment was echoed by Prithvi Raj Singh, president of the Federation of Hindu Associations. "We sincerely express our hearty thanks to your offices, for resolving this matter, and to Hindu individuals and organizations who worked in the earnest honesty to convey the message of their concerns," Singh wrote in a letter to Benson that was faxed to India-West.

Added Mittal, "It appears the WVA and the AHAD are not interested in an apology; they're more interested in getting their names in the papers."

Krishnadas countered that it was Aghi who was trying to get publicity. "It's very unfortunate that Aghi has chosen to spotlight his organization rather than the millions of people and Hindu associations around the world who brought (the studio) to their decision."

Harish Dhruv, speaking on behalf of the Hindu Swayam Sevak Sangh, said politicians had no right to "meddle in Hindu issues." "The studios need to deal with us ... Sunil Aghi does not represent us," he said. "The apology should go to the organization who is leading the fight."

According to Aghi, however, executives at Renaissance and Studios USA did not want to deal directly with any religious organizations as they were afraid of opening a floodgate of protest. "They would only deal with me," he told India-West. "What can I do?" If he hadn't gotten involved in the negotiations, "the outcome would not have been achieved."

Although Aghi said he is trying to remain a neutral voice on behalf of the Indo-American community, he expressed frustration that Hindu activists hadn't been satisfied with the April 2 announcement. "I'm a political activist," he said. "Not a religious activist ... I would hope to not get involved in religious issues in future." Mittal added, "(The IAPF) will never again become involved in religious activities."

The Indo-Americans Political Foundation is a group of Americans of Indian origin who work to lobby government agencies to be more responsive to the needs of the Indian community; to support political candidates who share their convictions and aspirations; and to educate Indo-Americans on the U.S. political process. The group has raised $600,000 in the last two years, Aghi said. Aghi also founded Thank You America, a group which distributes food and blankets to Southern Calfornia homeless.

"Xena: Warrior Princess" is seen in more than 60 countries worldwide, including India. The show is television's highest rated first-run syndicated drama.

Although the press release mentioned that the episode would be pulled from worldwide syndication, the decision applies to the U.S. rerun schedule as well, said a spokesman, adding that it wasn't yet determined if the episode would be available for purchase on video at a later date.

The decision to pull the show from its domestic repeat and international syndication schedule will cost Studios USA a "considerable" sum, said an industry source who wished to remain anonymous. "This is going to have a chilling effect in Hollywood," since producers would now be afraid to portray Hindus in any context, he said. It's not the first time Western media depictions of Indian religious themes have drawn fire. Recently, Dave La Chapelle, a photographer for Vanity Fair magazine, issued a public apology after his irreverent photos of comedian Mike Myers offended some Hindus, as did Madonna's appearance at last year's MTV Awards in a tilak and a see-through tee-shirt; and protests led Sony Music to withdraw an Aerosmith album cover which protesters said denigrated Krishna.

Before "The Way" was broadcast in late February, the show's producers consulted with Dr. Ravi Palat, an expert in Indian studies at Auckland University in New Zealand. "I found (the controversy) strange, because there are hundreds of movies made every year which portray Hindu deities as fictional characters," he said (I-W, Mar. 5). "There is a whole variety of texts which are played around with, because there is no definitive version. Every movie or story about the gods, then, is in a sense fictional."

Protesters argued that Palat, a Hindu, wasn't the right man for the job. "He's an ivory tower scholar who believes the scriptures are fictional. He doesn't have his finger on the pulse of practicing, believing Hindus worldwide," said Krishnadas.

Tapert admitted that the whole controversy wasn't handled as gracefully as it could have been. "It's so out of control," he said. "We would have changed the episode in a heartbeat if we'd known this would happen," he said, adding that "The Way" was one of his favorite episodes in "Xena's" four-year history because "it was actually the first time we showed our hero praying." He was so enamored of the Hanuman character, in fact, that he was considering making it a recurring one on the show.

Tapert, who is also executive producer of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," served as executive producer of the action films Hard Target and Timecop, starring Jean Claude Van Damme, and The Quick and the Dead, starring Leonardo Di-Caprio, Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman. He admitted that although he loves working in television, the whole experience has soured him and that he's considering leaving TV to return to feature films. Tapert described the controversy as "a giant misunderstanding."

In a public statement issued April 5, Tapert said "Renaissance Pictures and its business partners are not insensitive to the concerns of Hindus worldwide. The earnest and understandable efforts of some Hindus to convey their distress over the depiction of Krishna in the Xena episode, 'The Way,' were blurred by the intolerant attitudes in which the issue was initially couched," referring to Krishnadas' pre-broadcast allegation that the episode glorified a homosexual relationship between its two main characters. After viewing the episode, Krishnadas retracted his remarks about homosexual content.

"We've got the main things we asked for, and we are very happy about that," said Krishnadas. "However, ... we obviously have-n't changed their hearts and attitudes. It is clear that they still have no respect for the Hindus they offended."

"People should accept the apology," said Aghi.

"We've lost sight of the real concern," said Prithvi Raj Singh. "Bottom line, the show is off!"

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