D.J. Doll Shiffala who features in Kaanta Laga. (PTI)

New Delhi, July 28: As chairman of the Censor Board, Anupam Kher is all set to play the role of chief moral police.

His mission is to stop vulgar display of flesh in music videos and serials.

At the moment, however, the actor is concentrating on music videos. He has a simple solution: the existing law — which says all music videos should pass through the Censor Board — should be strictly followed.

Most music videos at present get away without a certification.

Songs like Kaanta Laga, where a young girl in tight jeans is shown gyrating to remixed lyrics, has outraged many across the country. But the album was a hit in the teenage party circuit.

“I don’t want to be popular. I am not catering to the so-called liberals who live in the metros but to the larger section of people in India who live in small towns and semi-urban and rural areas. They want to protect young children from these vulgar displays,” says Kher.

Certification would mean channels could show a video, which has been given adult rating, only late at night. “This is a simple and effective first step to protect young minds,” the actor says.

According to Kher, India is the only country where music companies, especially the less known, smaller fly-by-night operators, get away without passing the Censor Board. He wants the government to make sure that those who defy rules and release videos without a go-ahead from the censors are punished. “It is only then that this kind of rubbish will stop,” he says.

“Parents should at least know what their children are watching. If we grade them, at least they will be able to monitor the networks. Without a system of knowing what is on offer, it is impossible to control what children are watching.”

The actor, who says he has got letters from parents and guardians from all over the country asking him to act on his promise to clean up the music video scene, believes vulgar videos often encourage eve-teasing and sexual innuendoes against women.

“I can imagine what women have to face daily while crossing the street corner, where gangs of boys gather every evening in small towns across this country. They are teased and harassed with lyrics from these vulgar videos.... Maybe, the rich liberals in their cars do not have to face all this.”