If there were a poll to rate the most regressive CBFC (Central Board for Film Certification) chief ever, Mr. Pahlaj Nihalani would probably win hands down. From too-long kisses, to lady-oriented films, to films unsuitable for kids to content seen as inappropriate in some other way, Nihalani has objected to it all; a man too sanskari for these non-sanskari times! This is a man anxious to protect us Indians from our own selves; mostly appearing to view Indians rather like a particularly dimwitted ruminant species.
The latest in a long, long list of things seen as unacceptable or un-sanskari is drinking and smoking on screen. In a recent interview, Nihalani indicated that portraying actors as drinking or smoking on screen is unacceptable.
Nihalani justified his view by saying that actors set an example for societal behaviour and are followed by millions. As such they must not be shown to be drinking and smoking on screen. What about all the research that says moderate drinking is not harmful or that which says wine is mere grape juice and great for health! Well never mind that; Mr Sanskari probably did not read the research; he is too busy treating the entire population of a nation as he would a group of toddlers.
It isn't enough that the film-going public is accosted with some unbelievably drab and grim anti-smoking adverts before a film as well as during the interval – remember poor Mukesh who dies of throat cancer and the grim foreboding of the voice over as we witness tar being squeezed out of sponge (a metaphor for our lungs, presumably)? It also apparently isn't enough that as soon as someone drinks or smokes on screen that distracting ticker warning appears... not enough for Mr Nihalani anyway.
The story of Devdas is that of an alcoholic; it revolves around the protagonist drinking. How does a filmmaker portray this? There are so many plot points that could require protagonists and other characters to drink or smoke. Will filmmakers have to steer clear of all those? Will we be left only with pure, sansakri devotional content in the end?
Will we ever again see something as iconic as Amitabh’s drinking scenes in Amar Akbar Anthony or in Satte pe Satta? What about the adorable bedside confessions of Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots and Kareena’s amorous ramblings in the same movie? And no drunk Kangana atop a bar in France gyrating to an Indian track… Is none of that to be allowed?
Smoking and drinking will permitted to be depicted on screen only when it is seen as ‘essential to the plot’ and even then it will be given the A certificate. If only A certificates were issued when actually essential: as in the case of lascivious item numbers that unapologetically objectify women, lewdness and stalking, gratuitous violence featuring gushing blood, flying teeth and bone crunching... and other genuinely objectionable content in our movies. Clearly a case of skewed sanskars here.
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