Smoking and stunts qualify, so why not sexual harassment too?

The government thinks it prudent and necessary to run a text extolling the dangers of smoking across screens when actors are indulging in what was once thought to be a cool lifestyle statement, never mind aesthetics and cinematography. While there is no data yet on whether these peremptory warnings have caused anything more than extreme irritation in the viewing public — though the intention was to scare people away from tobacco use — audiences in cinema halls and homes have become usedto the tickerrunning rudelythrough crucial scenes. Yet, given that many Indians take their style and lifestyle cues from the movies, it is quite alarming that many other activities on celluloid that might be considered as dangerous and life threatening as smoking continue to play out unobscured by moving lines of remonstrative text.

In light of the current outrage against increasing sexual harassment and rape of women in India, will the censors decide to snip overtly suggestive interactions between ardent heroes and the reluctant objects of their reel-life desire in the bud to assuage, at least in part, some of the people’s anger against the crude machismo that appears to be leading to real-life molestations? That seems unlikely as such cuts would play havoc with storylines and song opportunities. Instead, the authorities could take a line from ad films with death-defying stunts and warn viewers during lascivious scenes not to do this at home — or in the street — as they are totally fictional, are performed by trained actors and are not meant to be prescriptive in any way. The least they can do, of course, is ban the practice of coyly describing all unacceptable and lewd behaviour, ranging from off-colour remarks to out-and-out assault, by the euphemism ‘eve-teasing’.