Bollywood's mixed reaction to smoking scenes in films

Bollywood's reaction was mixed on Tuesday to the central government's informing the Supreme Court that it would permit smoking scenes in films though with a statutory warning of this being injurious to health.

Director Bejoy Nambiar, whose debut film Shaitan had many smoking scenes, told IANS: "I think its fair enough as long as the censor board is allowing the smoking scene with few restrictions. Because what I have heard is in down south any film with a smoking scene gets an 'A' certificate and this affects the economics of the film. So I feel this decision is much better.

Film maker Karan Malhotra, who faced issues during the shooting of his item song Chikni Chamli in Agneepath says it is ridiculous.

"I feel it's ridiculous and disgusting. Instead of doing all these things why don't they stop selling cigarettes? I just don't understand this concept. If they have a rape scene in the film even that time are they going to run the supers," Malhotra remarked.

He further added: "It is not only distracting but it also looks foolish. When someone comes to see a film paying Rs300, we are just spoon feeding them with such moral rules.

Director Vivek Agnihotri said, "Its a sad commentary on the way we have understood cinema. I don't understand why cinema becomes the victim all the time. In no other country people interfere the way films function. There is no other art form that touches everyone's life. I just don't understand this.

A Supreme Court bench of Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi was told that the new notification would mandate that the films showing a smoking scene would show the actor giving a warning at the start of the film, in between after the interval while a static message would be displayed in the course of the scene showing smoking.