NEW DELHI: It seems the on-screen speed demons will soon have to push their brakes before wooing the Indian cine buffs. With the government mulling a standard disclaimer in films and television commercials depicting car chase and car stunts, the James Bonds or the Bollywood super cops will only be able to showcase their chasing skills with a statutory warning.
As per the existing rules, any Hollywood or Bollywood films, which have smoking or drinking scenes, need to run a warning scroll saying “Cigarette smoking is injurious to health” or “Alcohol consumption is bad for health”. In certain cases, the filmmakers have been asked to remove such scenes altogether.
And now, if the government has its way, Roger Moore’s iconic film, The Man With the Golden Gun, will be relieved off the 360-degree cork-screw car roll in mid air or the scene will be required to carry a statutory warning.
The filmmakers in the past had cried foul over the rules citing violation of right to speech and creative expression. But with the government and Central Board of Film Certification planning to introduce the new warning, the film fraternity’s already strained relationship with the censor board could worsen further.
With the government mulling a standard disclaimer in films and TV commercials depicting car chases and car stunts, the movies will only be able to showcase their chasing skills with a statutory warning.
On March 16, a meeting was called by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting with senior officials from CBFC, Advertising Standards Council of India and some officials from Doordarshan. Some experts from the automobile industry also attended it. “The ministry told the officials that people, mostly youngsters, are influenced by car chasing scenes and bike stunts. This not only threatens their lives but also puts others in jeopardy. The ministry maintained that such disclaimer is necessary for the road safety given the fact that road accidents kill over 300 people every day,” sources said.
Not all, however, were happy with the idea. The representatives from automobile industry categorically told the ministry officials that such disclaimer will not do any good. Some officials also pointed out that many new cars are made for the speed and they will not be able to put statutory warning in television commercials.
Sources said the officials also discussed certain scenes from Bollywood director Rohit Shetty’s film Singham, which shows Ajay Devgn popping out of a car at 120 km per hour. They also discussed Salman Khan’s commercial of a cola brand in which the superstar converts his bike into a motor boat to reach on the land with some powerful stunts.
“The government has asked representatives from advertising fraternity for their views. The CBFC officials, however, said that implementation of a new statutory warning could be difficult given differences over alcohol and smoking disclaimer. Doordarshan officials told the meeting that they have already sensitised the commercial and film wings to ensure proper review of all videos before airing them,” sources said, adding that top officials of the I&B ministry will meet soon to take a final decision on the issue..