Members of the Indian film and television industry criticised a ban on smoking on films and television Thursday but said they would abide by the government's decision, according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. The federal government said the controversial ban would apply to films and television soaps made after October 2, 2005. The day marks the death anniversary of Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi, dpa said. Films that depict a historical era or a personality would be exempt from the ban. So would live broadcasts. No new films or television soaps could show anyone smoking. Old films and television serials which showed men and women smoking would run an anti-smoking scroll. The prolific Indian film industry churns out about 1,000 films a year. All films are cleared by a Censor Board which will now watch out for smoking scenes. There are also more than 250 television channels, many of which are uplinked from abroad and are outside the purview of Indian laws. But the industry seemed ready to practice self-censorship. "The government is king. The order is out and we will follow it," top Hindi film actor Shah Rukh Khan who is known to be a chain-smoker told dpa. "I agree that heroes smoking on screen gives out a wrong signal," actor Om Puri told NDTV television network. "But what if we are making a film on drug addicts? How will we portray it?" A Information and Broadcasting ministry official said the intention behind the ban was to ensure smoking was not glamourised in future films. --SP 1059 Local Time 0759 GMT
