Your Friendly Philosopher & Guide

People in general are sensible & aware about what is good & what is bad for them. And this depends upon individual perceptions about life. I doubt whether movies could influence individual lives so much so that they take up smoking just because Amitabh or Shah Rukh do it in style, and that people won’t take up smoking just because none were shown holding a cigarette on the Silver Screen.

There are few things in the society which can never be stopped – smoking, drinking, gambling, & prostitution. They have always been part of any civilisation. It was hukka once upon a time & now it is cigarettes, it was bhang and now it is brandy, it was ‘thayam’ in Mahabharata times now it is super lotto & it was deva dasis & now it is brothels. These are things that help a man or woman for that matter overcome his/her stress - at least momentarily. A complete ban on any of the above mentioned whims can surely lead to chaos, and the government knows it. The best example would be of Andhra Pradesh which tried putting total prohibition on alcohol - people started drinking Old Spice (after shave lotions), and military officials started smuggling XXX Rum bottles into AP!

Movies are structured on characterisation. And characters give life to the movie. You obviously cannot show a villain licking a lolly pop or drinking a glass of boost before he plans to rape the heroin. That way violence is also bad, but you cannot show Amitabh of Sholay singing Raghu Pathi Raga Va Raja Ram…to transform Gabbar Singh in the climax. Bullets, weapons & blood are needed to make a complete movie. And they essentially do not take our senses out of our brains.

If the government worries too much about smoking being showcased in a good light and that it affects our Indian youth adversly, then it should seriously think about shutting down ITC (Indian Tobacco Company) than indulging in this kind of hypocrisy. Or at least should stop sponsoring Wills Cricket Trophies, and instead ask companies like Ranbaxy & Glaxo to come forward.