New Delhi, Dec. 1: Devdas without his drink? Churchill minus his cigar?

Unthinkable, said information and broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi while reacting to cabinet colleague Anbumani Ramadoss’s move to banish smoking from the screen, both big and small.

The minister said though smoking must be discouraged, the “content of a character (in a film, book or painting) cannot be dictated or interfered” with because it goes against artistic freedom.

Ramadoss had virtually campaigned for a ban on on-screen smoking and the government issued a notification in May 2004.

Last month, when Delhi High Court heard a petition against the move, the health ministry said it was willing to provide “exemptions” like allowing actors playing historical characters to smoke if the narrative demanded.

The I&B ministry is expected to file its affidavit in the court tomorrow. The ban, which was to have come into force from October 2, has been put off till January.