In recent times a controversy is very much in the air and that is fuelled by the Union Health Minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss. He has literally attacked the smoking on screen and also complained that the surrogate advertisements have increased with the latest platform as in Indian Premier League cricket matches which have a massive viewership. He has argued that creativity as an art should be used for improving lives instead of taking them and claimed Tobacco and alcohol together make a perfect recipe for early death.
Well about me I would like to say that neither I drink nor I smoke and I vehemently oppose both as a part of our lifestyle. No, not for the reason that my name sounds Muslim but for the fact that since childhood I had experienced the adverse impact of these on the society and I find it hard to acknowledge that the major source of energy of a nation the youth community would be under the curse of unhealthy practices. Many of my friends have embraced smoking and drinking with the course of life. Mostly since the school level and some after coming to this Aligarh Muslim University(AMU) where smoking is a commonplace. Now among all my old friends only as little as 5% are untouched by these harmful practices. I am proudly one of them.
I unquestionably find it a matter of concern that over a million deaths in India occur due to Tobacco use, and according to the World Health Organization study 15% of the school children here in India use Tobacco. It is also proved that 52% of youngsters start smoking after being influenced by movies. Being the Convener of University Film Club of AMU I had noted some interesting figures given by the Health Minister and if things are judged too closely then I personally believe there must be a line drawn between creativity in the film and the present scenario regarding drinking and smoking. It is stated that India produces the largest numbers of movies in the world (900 in year 2001). In the 1950’s, 30 percent of films had smoking scenes with an alarming percentage touching 89 in 2004. Yes indeed it’s true earlier the characters depicted as smokers in the movies in 1950’s were only villains or ‘bad guys’. Now 76% of smoking scenes are done by heroes or lead characters. And yes from my personal experience I have seen that the idea of a ‘negative hero’ is quite alluring for the youths these days. Today it’s very much true that drinking is characterised as macho, youthfulness, and acceptability in elite social circles. The idea is indeed futile. The average drinking age in India from the average age of 28 now it has come down to shocking 19.
It’s really interesting to see that the latest two movies by Tamil Megastar Rajnikant were smoke free and biggest hits in the history of entire Indian Film Industry.
We will have to build a new India which will be free from all evils. And India has not turned into an individualistic society, and so many times harmful practices like this affected the entire family. A youth is very much liable to his family and all the responsibilities to the nation. So he must need to be educated and aware of everything.
Let’s address on these issues boldly and find a better solution.