NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has directed NTV, a Telugu news channel, to keep off air for seven days for allegedly airing obscene contents. The offensive visuals were shown in a song-based programme on films in 2012. The ministry, in an order issued on Monday, asked the channel to shut down its operations from February 3 to 10, and submit a compliance report.
The ministry said the channel used to telecast a programme, Cine Colors, every day at 11.30 pm for four months in 2012. “Songs played in this programme contained obscene and indecent visuals of physical intimacy aimed at enticing the viewers. The programme carried uncensored clips sourced from various films which were not certified for telecast,” the ministry said. Any clips, songs, promos or films to be telecast on the TV channels have to be separately certified by the Censor Board.
Interestingly, the CBFC gave its advice on the issue only after receiving several reminders from the ministry. The examining committee of the CBFC, in its report, said, “...The television programme contained portions of songs from Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi films. Each episode started with a provocative commentary by a lady anchor, wherein gossips about heroines like Kajal Agarwal, , Genilia, Anuslka and Vidya Balan were passed. It was observed that the films shown in these episodes were certified by the CBFC except Gaayam-2, Chattam and Game. This programme was purely aimed at arousing baser instincts in the viewers.