I&B and health ministries agree on middle ground for smoking in films

Written By: Admin | Updated : September 22, 2012 9:27 AM IST

With the ill effects of smoking being advertised round every corner, the move by the ministries of information broadcasting and health has finally reached a stand on what should be done with smoking scenes on the big screen. From banning the scene completely to blurring the cigarettes, they have tried everything but of no avail. Finally after a year long battle the ministries of information broadcasting and health has decided to allow the scene to run as is, but with health disclaimers to be run before and during the film.

The guidelines for use of these spots is as follows:

Anti-tobacco health spots of minimum 30 seconds shall be shown at the beginning and middle of films which have scenes displaying tobacco products or their use.
An audio-visual disclaimer of minimum 20-second duration on the ill-effects of tobacco use shall also be displayed at the beginning and middle of these films.
The spots and disclaimers prepared by the health ministry will be provided to the Central Board of Film Certification.
Films showing use of tobacco products shall also be required to display an anti-tobacco health warning in the form of a static message during the period of display of the tobacco products or their use in the films.

In an effort to make the move more effective the Ministry of health and family welfare has agreed to bear all the costs of producing such health spots and disclaimers. They have also agreed to drop the clause that necessitated 'UA' certification for films showing tobacco products or their use.