'Bigg Boss' will continue to air at 9pm, for now

A day after the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry asked two reality shows, Bigg Boss and Rakhi Ka Insaaf, to be moved to late-night slots, Viacom18 Media Private Limited that airs the former programme on Colors moved the Bombay high court against the order and obtained a stay on the operation of the order till November 22.

The reality show that recently featured Hollywood actress Pamela Anderson will continue to be on air at 9 pm till the court’s further orders.

Viacom18’s counsels Aspi Chinoy and Ameet Naik told the court that there is nothing obscene in the show and it is in accordance with the ministry’s guidelines. In its order, the ministry had said that the show can be aired between 11 pm and 5 am and that even promotional clips should not be aired beyond these hours. The ministry felt that the show was not suitable for viewing by children.

Chinoy argued that the ministry had not pointed out a single incident which they found objectionable. “They ask us to modify content without saying what needs to be modified,” he said. He added that the show, running in its fourth season, has been on air since October 3 in the prime-time slot.

He further argued that the order was passed by the ministry without giving the channel any time to respond. “There should at least be a 24-hour or 48-hour notice before issuing such an order. My (Viacom18) advertising commitments will fail and lead to civil consequences,” Chinoy said.

Justices DK Deshmukh and ND Deshpande said they found prima facie substance in the submissions made on behalf of Viacom18. Issuing notice to the ministry, the court said it would dispose of the matter finally on November 22. “Will you assure it (Bigg Boss) is of good taste and decency?” justice Deshpande asked. “We will not change the time then.”

The channel on Wednesday defied the ministry by broadcasting the show. “We did not receive the ministry’s notice on Wednesday, perhaps because it was a holiday. That is why we went ahead with the telecast of the show at its usual time,” a Colors spokesperson said on condition of anonymity. Sources reveal that the channel has been pulled up by the ministry and stringent action will be taken for the breach. Despite repeated efforts, officials from Imagine were unavailable for comment.

Civil society divided
Meanwhile, the fate of other shows with ‘adult’ content hangs in the balance, with channels claiming that they have not heard from the I&B ministry. “We have been getting news about shows like Bigg Boss and Rakhi Ka Insaaf being considered for adult viewing only. But we have not received any official communication for Roadies and Splitsvilla,” said a spokesperson from MTV.

However, the government’s decision to have adult television hours between 11pm and 5am has received mixed responses. “The ministry’s order has raised questions about whether it is the ministry’s job to decide who should watch what and at what time. Moreover, the move has only given free publicity to these shows. This may now compel underage viewers to stay up at night to see what the government does not want them to watch,” says mother-of-two Naina Roy.

Censor Board member and sociology professor Nandini Sardesai finds the idea of restricted telecast “quite hare-brained”. “I think the idea of any kind of censorship is over and done with. Today’s kids are leagues ahead of the censoring generation. Just because you block something out at a certain hour, you cannot guarantee they will not catch it on the internet,” she says.

Dr Anjali Monteiro, documentary filmmaker and professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, feels that it would be better if the television industry evolves a code of ethics to ensure that what hits the air does not violate human dignity and rights.

However, Pratibha Naithani who had filed a PIL in 2005 to prevent unchecked telecast of adult movies, says that expecting channels to self-censor is not going to work. “The standard of what channels put on air is slipping. Reality shows stop short of showing hardcore porn in their race for TRPs,” she says. She suggests that adult content should only be available on paid channels as is the norm in the West.

It is the first time that channels have been asked to observe a time slot for certain shows. However, it is not clear whether the six-hour slot will be a designated adult viewing slot since the I&B ministry has termed its move only as “a crackdown on vulgar content at prime time”.