Tamas is a scarring movie set in the undivided India of 1947. Based on the novel by the famous Hindi author Bhisham Sahni, the story spotlights one of the bloodiest events of modern history: the partition of India. Directed by Govind Nihalani, it originally aired as a serial on the national broadcasting channel Doordarshan in 1987. Starring Om Puri and Amrish Puri, the film featured many other notable artists of Indian cinema. In the early weeks of 1988, it found itself caught in a whirlpool of controversy over religious issues. The director also received multiple threats due to which he was even placed under police protection for 8 weeks. Numerous lawsuits were filed against it. Ultimately, it received a clean chit from the Bombay High Court but was later compiled and projected in theatres as a 4-hour film to avoid further problems. For some years, it completely disappeared from Indian television. Today one can watch it for free on online streaming platforms like YouTube, just as I di...