The tobacco control law is still now being violated largely in many films and dramas as the smoking scenes are displayed in many of the films, telefilms and dramas which have been released recently.
‘Morichika’, a drama released on January 1 this year, displayed smoking scenes many times which ultimately encourages the viewers in tobacco use although the drama was made to depict the negative impact of addiction as well as tobacco use.
The drama, which is directed by Kazal Arefin Ome and produced by Turin, was released on Youtube channel named Live Tech, a sister concern of Live Technology.
In the Morichika drama, the health warning words “Smoking, Drinking and Drugs is injurious to health” was just observed at the left side of the screen in very small fonts. The smoking scene was observed many times in the drama. The health warning words were not mentioned at the middle of the screen and also not covered by one-fifth of the screen. The health warning issue was also not displayed before beginning or at the end of the drama which is violation of the tobacco control law.
In the context of the story, actor Afran Nisho and actress Mehazabien Chowdhury are chain smokers. Some other actors in the drama are also seen smoking. The smoking scene was displayed at the beginning of the about 40-minute drama. It was observed that an actor smokes a cigarette. He also offers cigarette to another actor.
Talking to the Bangladesh Post, anti-tobacco activist Syed Saiful Alam Shovan of WBB Trust said that use of smoking scene in the Morichika drama is not acceptable. Ultimately, the viewers will be encouraged towards tobacco by watching the drama. He also said that although any movie won’t be released without censor certificate, the drama has no such condition. The drama must come under the Censor Board. He called upon the government to stop the drama ‘Morichika’.
Syeda Anonna Rahman, who works at Bangladesh Tamak Birodhi Jote (The Bangladesh Anti Tobacco Alliance), said that directors, producers, actors and actresses should follow the tobacco control law in their movies and dramas. “We won’t tolerate unlimited use of tobacco scene in films and dramas,” she said.
However, smoking scene is shown many times in another drama named ‘Hardbreed’ directed by Kazal Arefin Ome.
When contacted, Kazal Arefin Ome told the Bangladesh Post that he tried to depict negative impact of tobacco use in his drama. So, he used smoking scene many times. When asked about violation of tobacco control law, he said that he is not aware about the law. He will try to follow the tobacco control law in the future, he said.
Earlier, the anti-tobacco activists claimed that ‘Devi’ movie utterly violated the tobacco control law, and called upon the government to stop its screening.