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Smoking ban: Two sides of the debate
02nd June 2005 23.00 IST
By N K Deoshi

Should creativity and artistic freedom be subjugated to promotion of health consciousness? The debate seems evenly poised.

When Amitabh Bachchan lights up his bidi and speaks his dialogues through the haze of smoke billowing from his mouth in the recently released movie Bunty Aur Babli , the audience goes in ruptures. Now, take the bidi out and it is not hard to imagine that the punch would be missing.

Art imitates life. And life is not without the people who smoke. But it is equally true that youngsters and adolescents emulate their silver screen stars when they see them taking drags from a cigarette with style and swagger.

So the question is: Is the government ban on showing cigarette smoking on screen justified? Many in Bollywood tend to disagree.

Actor Aamir Khan has expressed his complete disagreement with the decision. A news daily quotes Aamir as saying: “Banning smoking on screen is not a solution. As I see it, if we can’t show any negative characters, emotions in films, books or in other creative forms then we won’t have any creative medium to express our views. There are certain roles that demand the character to smoke. And if the govt is really serious to curb smoking, then they can use celebs like us to endorse non-smoking.”

Actor Anil Kapoor too registered his protest against the decision. He said: “It’s a bizarre decision. I don’t smoke in real life and agree that smoking should be discouraged. But you can’t ban it in movies.”

Kapoor is currently working in a film titled ‘Chocolate’ in which he plays a character who is a chain-smoker.

Other celebs like filmmakers Mahesh Bhatt and Shyam Benegal have voiced their disapproval of the smoking ban in films.

But still, the fact cannot be ignored that the filmstars who are idolized by millions could set a bad example when they smoke on screen.

The website SceneSmoking.org, which tracks tobacco use in films, says a Dartmouth study found that “non-smoking teens whose favourite stars smoke frequently on screen are 16 times more likely to develop positive attitudes towards smoking”.

According to a survey by the American Lung Association of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails, the occurrence of smoking among positive good guys in Bollywood films has elevated from 22 percent in 1991 to 53 percent in 2002.

(With inputs from IANS)