Actress Kajol said it’s unfair to say that the audience gets influenced by watching cinema. She was speaking at a special session of the 15th edition of FICCI Frames 2014 in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The star of films such as Dushman and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was speaking about censorship guidelines.
“My kids are in front of the computer 24X7 despite having all the parental control. There is no way to stop the flow of information. The flow of information is too fast and too much. If you say one gets influenced watching a character, I think it’s foolish. Cinema reflects society, society rarely reflects cinema,” Kajol said.
She added: “Movie shows what happens in society. For instance, if a hero smokes on screen, it is because 90 per cent of the country smokes and not the other way round. It’s stupid to say that one gets influenced by watching movies.”
Kajol shared the dais with filmmaker Sudhir Mishra, Rakesh Kumar, CEO, Central Board of Film Certification, filmmaker and co-chair of FICCI Ramesh Sippy and Ravi Kottarakara, president, Film Federation of India.
Referring to the mandatory ‘No Smoking’ disclaimer in films, Mishra said: “As fimlmakers, our only request is do not put the disclaimer on the frame. Put it before or after the scene because you are taking away that moment from the filmmaker.”
Kajol said that such disclaimers “cut down the creativity of the director”.
Kumar refused to respond, saying the matter is “sub-judice in court”.
However, when Kajol asked whether one could change the Censor Board guidelines, Sippy said: “We can try and bring changes in the guidelines.”
