What's smokin'??

Just recently our Union Minister for Health Dr.Anbumani Ramadoss, declared that smoking scenes in future cinemas to be produced should not show any smoking scenes.The ban just doesn't stop with that and extends also into the television arena.It says that any smoking scene shown should be blurred and that smoking scenes from old movies should be shown with a statutor warning at the bottom.I, for one am a non-smoker and it doesn't affect me in any way.But it sure does affect my viewing pleasure.Just think:

(The following is a scene from the movie Baasha)

Marc Antony(Raguvaran):Hey Baasha, nee intha business kku oru bachcha.Innum enni yezhe naalla nee close...hahaha.

Baasha(Thalaivar Rajni):(Lights his cigarette and screen blurs immediately) Nee innthaa Baasha oda valayaadathey..venaa.....
The writer wishes to apologise to all Rajini fans for not being able to remember any punch dialogue from the movie as and when he smokes.



Just an important scene in the movie Baasha would go blurred.The scene would lose the aesthetic value and I would lose the kick-assness that the scene would generate for me.Just think, how many such scenes will have to be blurred.Just think!!All this would make people not to smoke? Smokers will still be smokers, according to me.Somehow its all just a farce played by the central government in just making the public feel they are doing something good for them.Do all channels show sex all the time or is there one particular channel that promotes just sex? But still lots of people in India have AIDS.Why? I am not saying that screening sexual content on the screen from now on would have no impact on society.The youth is bound to go beserk.I remember guys used to stay tuned into the ZEE MGM channel every Saturday night, where 'A' movies used to be screned, to catch a glimpse of a woman's breasts.But hey, I can tell you that it surely didn't result in spread of AIDS or anything.Anyways thats different.

The film industry ofcourse has taken it badly for it curbs their imagination and creativity and restricts them of space in this already hackneyed way of making movies.The ban has come as a blow particularly to Bollywood.Many Bollywood actors and filmmakers have reacted in different ways.

Devanand, for instance says:If a person wants to smoke and die let him to do it...why affect the film industry by announcing such laws?..If you want ban smoking ban the sale of tobaccos instead.

Totally in agreement with you Devanand saab.But then filmmakers do also have some social responsibility, in that they mustn't take movies that can influence the vulnerable youth into taking drugs, smoking, drinking or stalking a girl and so on.The subject can't be of such sort, but one or two scenes where it is required to portray a negative character will demand him/her to smoke, drink or take drugs.Then what will the director do? How will he portray that emotion? Anyways thats none of my business.I am not here to speak for the film fraternity.But I sure do enjoy movies and can understand how such a baseless rule, rooted from idiocy will worry the filmmakers and disturb audience with blurs and subtitles.

And this how probably a scene in our future Indian movie would look:

Villain:Haaahahahhahahhehehehehehhaahahahh........(picks up a cigarette and puts it in his mouth and lights it and scene goes blur)...enna inthaaa cigarette pudikiriyaa?(offers cigarette to the hero).

Hero:Che....(gestures like hell he cares).

Villain:Enna bhayamaa?? hhehehehehahahahhahhahaa.............ithu nalla international brandu paa..(asks whether Hero is scared and says that the cigarette is of international quality).

Hero:Che...international branda iruntha enakku enna...ennaku onna maathri screen la blur aaga vendaam....hehehhehhahahahahh..(says he cares balls about its quality and that he doesn't take the cigarette cos he doesn't wants to get blurred on screen and laughs like the villain).

Villain:(takes off the cigarette immediately and looks like hes lost it all..with eyes protruding).