Sep 29, 2005 03:35 AM
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(Updated Sep 29, 2005 03:39 AM)
This Review is all about one particular controversial Measure of The Ministry, 'Banning the Smoking Scenes in Films & TV Serials' and nothing more, nothing less.
Hot Headlines:
Union Minister Anbumani proposes ban on cigarette smoking scenes in movies.
Ban on smoking in films to be effective In A week from the coming Gandhi Jayanthi day on 2nd October?
So, no smoking scenes to be shown in films and on television because smoking is injurious to health & smoking-scenes in films & TV spoil the entire younger generation in impressionable years. Good concern for the nation’s collective health! But can it be banned altogether?
According to Union Health Minister, the ban on smoking scenes in movies and television serials will come into effect on October 2 (Gandhi Jayanthi). The likely-to-be-affected Film Industry & others have shown their Stiff-and-strong opposition to this strange ban but the Ministry is unrelenting & asserts that the ban is a law and all the citizens should abide by the law.The Union Health Ministry has already directed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to issue a circular to ban the scenes showing smoking in films and TV serials.
Why is this blanket-ban while the sale of cigarettes is legal in this country? Isnt it a controversial move? No doubt, smoking is injurious to health. why then no outright ban the sale of tobacco ? Why should the government target the film industry & TV alone? This is where the Politics of Tamilnadu is suspected to have come to the Centre. No idea how other visual media escaped the radar scan!Some feel the Smoking Ban a silly buffoonery. India is Democratic & they have a right to their opinion!
Because of the mounting pressure from all sides, some modifications of and exemptions from the ban-order are being announced. According to Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Mr.Reddy, the ban on smoking scenes in films would not apply to films on historical events and biographical works and the old films and television serials had also been exempted from the ban. Some ray of light & hope at last. Who has the time & strength to chop off the smoking-scenes in almost all of these films in thousands?
Bollywood director producer Mahesh Bhatt has subsequently filed a petition in the Delhi High Court challenging Government's direction to ban smoking scenes in movies and television serials on the ground that the ban is against the right to freedom of expression enshrined in the Constitution of India. It is now in the HC. The court is seized of the matter & its verdict expected on or before October, 2.
The HC Bench's Posers & observations during its hearing are worthy of note:
''Can there be a film on Winston Churchill without his signature cigar?''
''Smoking is not banned in life. How can you ban it in cinema?”
“It was only possible in Utopia.”
“Why don’t you ban it altogether?”
'Artistic expressions required things to be shown in the natural course of action. “You can’t make a film on a college hostel without showing smoking.”
So, we come to know which side the wind is blowing! Let's wait for the final word, shall we?
Fellow MS-ians: Here's a request.: Pl. respond to this review & in your RRCs, be specific about what do you think of this ban on Smoking Scenes in visual media?
