The latest controversy around Woody Allen has nothing to do with his film. India wanted to incorporate anti-smoking warnings. In response, the director refused to air it.
Blue jasmine, the last Woody Allen with Cate Blanchett is not unanimous. In India, the film will not even be shown. The American director has indeed refused to screen his work in theaters nationwide. At issue: an anti-smoking warning message that the Indian authorities asked him to add.
“Because of the content of the film, it cannot be shown in India as it should be. Therefore, it is not expected to be released. It is in the name of artistic freedom that the famous actor summed up his opposition to the Indian government.
So this is not a disagreement with India’s anti-smoking policy. The director of operations of PVR Pictures, which was to broadcast the film, explains the issue of the controversy to the newspaper Daily News & Analysis : “Allen has creative control over the film. […] He wasn’t comfortable with the warning messages we had to add when we saw characters smoking on screen. He thinks that when the message appears, the attention [du spectateur] is turned towards him rather than towards the stage. ”
Anger of oncologists
Woody Allen’s strict stance angered the oncologists of theTata Memorial Hospital (Mumbai, India). They invited the filmmaker to visit them to become aware of the damage caused by smoking in the country.
One of the doctors, Dr Chaturvedi, does not want to create a link between artistic freedom and smoking. “I refuse to believe that a talented actor needs a cigarette to express his emotions and his creativity,” he explains to Daily News & Analysis.
Strict Indian Law
In India, the cinema is subject to anti-smoking laws. Warning messages are required whenever a character smokes onscreen, and theaters must issue a warning before each movie. Since 2005, the government has banned the broadcasting of Indian or foreign films or television programs in which smokers, packets of cigarettes or cigarette advertisements are seen. Scenes including this content must be removed by law.
In a country of 257 million smokers, the government refuses to allow cigarettes to be considered a positive idea. All occasions are good to fight against tobacco.
The country is indeed seriously affected with 15% of the tobacco patients in the world. 900,000 Indian smokers die each year. Since 2003, all forms of tobacco have been banned in public places, as has direct advertising and sponsorship of sporting events by the tobacco industry.
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