First of all, let me make it clear that I neither hate Union Health Minister, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss nor do I like him.
Today from one of the leading Tamil cinema portals, I came to know that all films containing smoking scenes will be find as the shooting spot is a public place as many people like the director, light boys, actors, actress etc gather there. For quite some time now, he has been having regular tussles with many doctors in AIIMS and film personalities.
Personally, I do have a problem if someone is smoking in the same room as I am. I can even say that I was happy to an extent when smoking at public places was made punishable. But I don’t like his manner of asserting authorities over things that he is not involved in.
The first time I noted the name Anbumani Ramadoss was when he asked SRK not to smoke in movies which led to a wide debate. Following this he has mentioned many other actors’ names in his interviews.
What really pisses me off is the manner in which he is trying to assert his authority. It is one thing to do it out of concern, but doing it to show one’s power is ugly. Being a regular movie follower, I feel that in certain films some qualities of certain characters (mainly villains) can be expressed in a much better way by using a smoking shot. In such instances, the smoking scene is a director’s creative liberty. Usually, smoking shots are used to show how a character responds under stress.
What the respected health minister is trying to do in such instances is interfere in the working space of artists. Earlier, smoking scenes were allowed in movies, if they carried a warning “Smoking Is Injurious To Health” at the bottom of the screen. That was an acceptable demand. But to totally ban smoking from movies is absolute bullshit.
In short, the health minister is giving huge negative publicity (which works much better) for cigarettes. It is high time he learnt that the human brain cannot process negative instruction.
I would love to hear what you have to say about this topic.
Loading ...