Promoting smoking in Indian cinema is injurious to health…

In India, Bollywood actors are not just admired and awed but they are worshiped and idolized. In a country where majority of the population lacks primary education, cannot differentiate between fact and fiction. Most of the cinema is fiction, we know that, but most under educated and surprisingly even some educated audience believe the cinema they see. Recently a survey done by
World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that an overwhelming majority of Hindi films represent some form of tobacco use, and that three-fourths of top-rated films send out a message to the youth that smoking is a fashionable lifestyle option. "Smoking in the movies is a powerful motivation for young people to copy their cine screen idols" cautions Dr Uton Muchtar Rafei, Regional Director for the World Health Organisation South-East Asia Region.
He further emphasizes that given the popularity of Bollywood films in other countries of the South Asian subcontinent, the Middle East and Africa, these films tend to send out a strong pro-smoking message to millions of impressionable youth across the globe. The study further reveals how 80% of the over 400 films studied show some form of tobacco use. "It is estimated that in India alone, 15 million people see Indian films everyday. Around 76% of the top-rated films portray smoking as the "cool" thing to do. Whether it is done consciously at the behest of the tobacco industry or unwittingly, Bollywood cannot afford to ignore its potential in curbing the tobacco epidemic any further, says Ambika Srivastava, President, Strategic Mediawork who conducted the study on behalf of WHO. Dr S.J. Habayeb, WHO Country Representative of India adds that "the glamorization of smoking by Indian film stars, both on and off the screen, unfortunately, generates pro-tobacco cues in the audiences. He said that the study reveals a growing trend in the portrayal of smoking in films as a trendy and healthy lifestyle option. "This is especially worrisome in this country where over 800,000 people die annually due to tobacco related diseases. Besides, the number of people who suffer from tobacco-related illness is even higher." Showing and promoting a lead character smoking in Bollywood movies is very usual today, as opposed to in the past where only the villain smoked and had bad habits that one must not emulate. However what is really the responsibility of filmmakers – to worry about the character they are creating or whether the audience emulates a bad habit portrayed by the character?