While the smoke on showing warning signs in films on smoking scenes is yet to be doused, there is another fire waiting to rage. With two-wheeler users accounting for a large share of road accident deaths (28 per cent at an all India level), the Uttar Pradesh Transport Department has written to the Censor Board, calling for warnings to be shown when films show two-wheelers drivers driving without helmets or four-wheeler drivers moving without seat-belts.
In 2013, there were 1.37 lakh deaths due to road accidents, of this two wheeler users were almost 30,000, according to Road Ministry report on accidents. Other road users killed in road accidents include car, taxies, vans and other light and medium motor vehicles (17.2 per cent or 23,700 lives), it says.
Pointing out that this could be similar to warnings for smoking or tobacco, Transport Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh, PK Ravindra Naik, has asked the Central Board of Film Certification — commonly called Censor Board — to formulate a policy to this effect.
“In the first six months of 2014, in UP, there were 2,656 accidents including two wheelers, resulting in death of 1,342 people. If these two wheeler users had worn helmets, at least 90 per cent of them would not have lost their lives,” he said.
It is often seen that movies and TV serials show heroes on two-wheelers flaunting their hairstyles without two wheelers and four wheeler drivers without using seat belts, feels Naik.
Big impact There are even scenes which show stunt bikers breaking traffic rules. Given that films have a bigger impact on the society, there should be a ban on such scenes.
He has asked the Censor Board of India to come out with a policy on the issue. There should at least be a line of warning just like in movies for tobacco consumption, Naik told BusinessLine .
The letter is also marked to the Uttar Pradesh entertainment tax official seeking “appropriate action”, indicating a need to formulate tax policies accordingly.
Meanwhile, the film makers feel that movies are not made to run scrolls and disclaimers. According to them it is not an effective way to address critical issues.
Kulmeet Makkar, CEO, The Film & Television Producers Guild of India Ltd said, while awareness about traffic rules is important, no film maker wants to show it in the movie unless it’s part of the plot and script.
“In a meeting in February, with I&B Ministry, the Guild’s members had in fact discussed the need to effectively communicate and address critical issues like smoking. We suggested the possibility of replacing the current disclaimers with aesthetically shot-videos featuring top actors that can be shown before the movie is screened,” he added.