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Indian TV and Bollywood films are known for giving good social and cultural messages. However, a new face of the Indian entertainment mediums has set an alarm among the government bodies and health facilities of the country. A National Survey in India has recently revealed how the mass media exposure has led to the increase of tobacco consumption among youth irrespective of their gender.
Indian TV and Films Endorsing Tobacco Consumption - Good Entertainment Gone Wrong
India is the second largest consumer of tobacco and it has been estimated by 2020 the country will claim 1.5 million lives annually due to increase in tobacco consumption. The contribution of Indian TV and films towards the popularity of cigarette smoking can’t be overlooked. The Indian actors are role models for the common man and are idolized by the latter for the clothes they wear, the hairstyles they groom, the dialogues they speak and the cigarette they smoke.
How the Trend Continues
Cigarette smoking has been a part of the Indian TV and films, but the first decade of the 21st century has seen a dramatic rise in the scenes where leading men and women in films light up a cigarette. Deepika Padukone, an upcoming superstar of Bollywood and a youth icon, was recently seen as a smoker in her film Karthik Calling Karthik. In his film titled Swades, Shahrukh Khan was seen smoking Marlboro cigarettes, the brand that was yet to be launched in India.
Amitabh Bachchan, the veteran Bollywood actor, was spotted smoking in his films like Bunty Aur Babli and Family. Even the films had publicity posters with the actor shown with a cigarette. And when these films are telecasted on the Indian TV, the scenes are watched by the whole family, including teenagers and children.
Tobacco Consumption on Regional Indian TV Channels
It is not that only main TV channels are endorsing the films with smoking scenes. Rajnikanth, the superstar from South India, is known for his unusual style of lighting a cigarette from the enemy’s denim. And the actor’s movies are repeatedly shown on ETV Kannada and other regional language TV channels. The ETV Telugu programs and films too show actors consuming tobacco in one form or the other.
According to a recent report from WHO, the tobacco consumption is on a rise among the Indian youth. The surveys conducted in the country further shows that 52 percent of the individuals in their young age smoke their first cigarette after seeing their favorite stars doing so.
Efforts against Tobacco Consumption Scenes on Indian TV
The former Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss started his campaign to ban tobacco consumption scenes on the Indian TV and in the Bollywood movies in 2005. The minister also went on criticizing actor Shahrukh Khan for lighting a cigarette in public while watching a cricket match.
Recently, the Bollywood director Sanjay Gupta had to spend 20 Indian Rupees to replace the posters of his movie Acid Factory when one of the leading actor was shown smoking a cigarette in the original posters. Bipasha Basu, the sizzling female Bollywood actor, recently refused to even hold a cigarette in a scene of her upcoming film.
Such efforts need to be made to clean the image of the Indian TV and films in the society. The whole world watches the Indian TV and films through set top box technology and the entertainment providers just can’t afford to deliver the wrong messages.
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