Aparna Sen

The new ruling from the ministry of health regarding the depiction of smoking in films has left me astounded! I find it difficult to believe that filmmakers would be required to have the caption “smoking kills” at the bottom of every frame that depicts anyone smoking. We are already required to have such a caption at the beginning of a film if the film contains any smoking scene. This has been accepted by everyone, but to interfere with actual frames of a film is a different matter altogether. It is a direct infringement on artistic freedom. An infringement on freedom of expression.

Most people, including women, smoked in the ’70s. How is a filmmaker to authentically depict a social scene of that time without showing anyone smoking? It is totally unacceptable that such scenes should contain captions against smoking in every frame. That would completely destroy the carefully constructed reality that filmmakers strive so hard to achieve in their cinema.

If the ministry of health is so worried about the bad effects of smoking, why doesn’t it ban the sale of cigarettes altogether, so that no one is able to buy them? But then tobacco companies would lose their revenue on cigarettes completely, wouldn’t they? And the government cannot afford to alienate the big corporates, can it? Of course not! So come down on artistic freedom! There’s nothing to lose there!

Cigarette packets have been containing captions to the effect of “smoking kills” for a long time now. Has that been able to deter smokers? Hardly! So what is the rationale behind thinking that captions in a film would? It would only result in collective laughter and in the issue being subverted by ridicule from the audience!’

Why doesn’t the ministry of health concentrate instead on improving the pathetic condition of general hospitals in most states? Or on the supply and preservation of snake venom in the medical centres of villages when 50,000 people die of snake bites every year, and leave films alone?

 

Rituparno Ghosh

I think if you have “smoking kills” popping up every now and then in the middle of a movie, we will give the act of smoking a lot more importance. Unless there is a scene or a film which actually glorifies smoking, I don’t think you can censor the smoking we show on screen.

There are many other things we do on screen and off it, which can be very carcinogenic. We have to stop all of that then. Also, through the activity of smoking, we are often able to create social and socio-cultural identities. Like in a recent film I have used smoking to establish femininity in a character at a time when men hardly smoke and women smoke more.

And those who will understand that “smoking kills” through those pop-up subtitles, can’t they understand the same with all those disclaimers and pictures on cigarette packets? That means the communication isn’t working.

Also, it’s not very clear whether the fight is against smoking or against tobacco. There is a junkie in my new film (Chitrangada) who is constantly snorting heroin. Is the directive applicable for him because only “cigarette smoking is injurious to health”? I am sure that very soon this rule will fall under the pressure of Bollywood heavyweights when a lot of money will be at stake. In the meanwhile some of our films will get affected badly by this vague new rule.

 

Goutam Ghose

There is simply no justification to the new ruling from the ministry of health regarding the depiction of smoking in films. The government cannot ban smoking because they make huge amounts of money through excise and all. So it is always cinema which has to suffer.

As a filmmaker I will make films which reflect society and our society is filled with people who are smokers and people who do not smoke. Similarly, my film would have characters who smoke and those who don’t. Even in my new film (Shunnyo Onko) there is some smoking in the film.

Now the popping up of the disclaimer during the scenes when characters are seen smoking is just ridiculous. It is technically very difficult to do. And also how many people can actually read what’s written?

Really, you can’t stop smoking by doing all this. And there lies my major issue with democracy. Why does it always have to be cinema that gets hurt?

 

Anjan Dutt

The certification board has no choice. Their hands are tied. Numerous NGOs seem to be bombarding them with letters stating that the youth of this country is being encouraged to smoke because the actors on the screen are smoking. But what about numerous books that write about characters smoking? Or paintings where people hold cigarettes? Do we have disclaimers imprinted on each page or the canvas? Or the youth doesn’t read books or look at paintings?

Do I, as a 21-year-old Indian have the choice to smoke a cigarette in this republic, irrespective of whether I learnt it from Humphrey Bogart, my classmate or my Dad? Who or what organisation has the right to deny me my democratic decision to smoke and drink in public if I am not harming anyone but myself? Why does the health ministry pick on non-issues rather than face bigger issues like pollution, malnutrition, public garbage or malaria? Why pick on cinema all the time?

I as a filmmaker will have subtitles popping up on my celluloid, have my artistic freedom violated, and get my film passed by the certification board. Will it stop people from smoking?

I will still continue to show people smoking, drinking or kissing passionately in my movies. I have no choice. I live in a world where people smoke, drink and have sex. I myself do. I will celebrate that reality. Like I will continuously show dirty streets of Calcutta, because the streets outside my house are never cleaned. I will keep showing people living on the streets in total degradation because that is how people live around my locality. I will keep showing violence because every day there is some violence happening in my city.

Cinema is not a class on moral science and nor will I accept moral policing from any quarter. I believe I live and function in a democratic republic and will choose to do so. It’s high time that people in power recognise cinema also as an adult art form and not treat its audience as children. It’s high time everyone concerned realises that moral issues are not about smoking, drinking or having sex, but political corruption, political violence and economic degradation.