Bollywood just can’t stop promoting cigarettes

Despite the fact that the rules under India’s tobacco control law mandate that, “Promotional materials and posters of film and television programmes shall not depict any tobacco products or their usage in any form,” posters for the feature film Dishoom show popular actor John Abraham smoking a cigarette.
 
This situation echoes the US situation when Hollywood’s inclusion of smoking in television advertisements for movies effectively promoted cigarettes on television despite the prohibition on cigarette advertising on television.  The difference, of course, is that what Bollywood is doing in India is a violation of law.
 
On August 2, 2016, the Indian NGO HRIDAY filed a complaint with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, noting that large versions of the poster showcasing Abraham, the lead actor, were prominently displayed at public places across the country and violated Indian law and urged Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to direct the filmmakers to stop using such irresponsible promotional materials. 

They wrote:

We are writing to draw your attention towards violation of tobacco-free film rules under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) (COTPA) by the production company Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment in the context of a recently released Hindi feature film – Dishoom. The film, which released on 29.07.2016 with a U/A certification, is produced by Mr. Sajid Nadiadwala, co-produced by Mr. Sunil A Lulla and directed by Mr. Rohit Dhawan. A poster part of the film’s promotional material depicts the film’s lead actor (Mr. John Abraham) prominently smoking a cigarette. The poster of the film (attached) is widely displayed at all public places across the country.
We would like to recall provision 9(2) of the Rules notified under G.S.R. No. 786(E), dated 27.10.2011 for Section 5 of COTPA (prohibition of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorships), which states that “Promotional materials and posters of film and television programmes shall not depict any tobacco products or their usage in any form.” The current poster of this movie is in direct violation of Rule 9(2) of this notification under COTPA.

 
A national newspaper, Deccan Herald covered the complaint in an August 4, 2016 article that noted that, “Public health studies in the past had illustrated how kids exposed to films with tobacco use scenes are twice as likely to become tobacco users as compared to non-viewers of such films. India has a high prevalence of tobacco consumption. Nearly 10 lakh [1 million] Indians die every year due to tobacco use.”
 
HRIDAY – and the rest of us – are waiting to see whether the government enforces to law or gives Bollywood and the multinational tobacco companies who benefit from this kind of indirect advertising a pass.
 
This item is cross-posted from the Smoke Free Movies blog at https://smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu/blog/bollywood-just-can%E2%80%99t-stop-promoting-cigarettes