BANGALORE: There were a few artistes in Sandalwood who wanted to be role models to the society. Kannada matinee idol late Dr Rajkumar who acted in more than 200 films was one among them. Except in the film `Prathidhwani’, Dr Rajkumar did not appear smoking cigarette or cigar or beedi. Even the directors used to consider smoking scenes as unnecessary since such scenes were believed to have an adverse effect on the youth.
“I welcome the Union Health Minister’s announcement on the issue of smoking scenes in films. No director will include such scenes unnecessarily. Shooting of such scenes needed extra efforts from directors,’’ said veteran filmmaker S V Rajendra Singh Babu.
Echoing similar opinion, artiste-cumdirector Ramesh Aravind has said that cinema is a creative medium. Ramesh who has acted in more than 120 films has only acted in a cigarette smoking scene in the film `Sneha Loka’. ``There should not be restrictions on such scenes. I am against smoking in real life but at the same time I think that smoking scenes in films will not have adverse effects. My sincere advice for the youth is that they should not abuse their mind and body, influenced by such scenes,’’ he said.
Another director-cum-artiste Satya PN, who claims to be teetotaler, opines that there should not be any restrictions on cigarette smoking scenes in films since no director or hero includes such scenes without a valid reason. “I agree that such scenes will have an adverse impact on the audience. At the same time, there are many cine buffs who want to imbibe good qualities of their favourite hero. For example, I am an ardent fan of late Dr Rajkumar. I have been following his principles in my real life,’’ said Satya.
However, Censor Board Officer A Chandrasekhar has said that glorification of cigarette smoking scenes in films is not justifiable.
Chandrasekhar feels that such scenes should not be included unnecessarily since many fans want to imitate their hero in real life too. ``I advised the producer of the film `Mast Majaa Maadi’ to remove 60 per cent of such scenes to get a `U/A’ certificate. The film had many smoking scenes. Sudeep always appears on the scene with a cigarette. Had they refused to cut such scenes, the Censor Board might have given it a `A’ certificate. If the script demands such scenes up to a certain extent, there is no harm,’’ said Chandrasekhar.
Responses from Bollywood seemed to give different angles to the issue. Actor Jackie Shroff goes:”Films may show killing people, raping, cheating and more, but that does not mean that our audience indulges in this. I’m happy that smoking has been banned in public places.” Actor Chunkey Pandey opined, “Films have a much wider reach and audience, more than documentaries. It’s time that we use this medium to spread the no smoking message.” He added, “We can use films to show the ill effects of smoking.
A film can show only the bad characters smoking or someone dying in the end because of this bad habit.”
