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India's health minister calls on Bollywood heroes to stop drinking on screen
After asking Bollywood actors not to smoke on screen, India's health minister has called on movie heroes to stop drinking alcohol on camera.
- AP
- Published: 15:55 April 30, 2008
- In January, India's Health Minister urged Bollywood heroes to stop smoking in movies and has now spoken out against drinking alcohol too.
- Image Credit: AP
New Delhi: After asking Bollywood actors not to smoke on screen, India's health minister has called on movie heroes to stop drinking alcohol on camera, while hinting that the booze could stay in villains' cups, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said on Tuesday that Bollywood should set a better example for India's young people.
"Earlier, most villains were shown consuming alcohol. Now heroes have started to portray alcohol consumption more often," the Times of India quotes Ramadoss saying.
"Actors drinking on screen will encourage youngsters to take up the habit. Scenes depicting alcohol consumption in films need to immediately stop," Ramadoss said at a press conference.
"Alcohol is the mother of all public health problems in India," he added.
The health minister's appeals carry no legal weight and so far have not produced significant results.
Alcohol has become more common in movies, a development that has been hailed by the country's young wine industry, among others, as a sign of mainstream acceptance.
This isn't the first time Ramadoss has accused Bollywood of bad behavior.
In January, Ramadoss called on movie stars to stop smoking cigarettes on screen, saying that 52 percent of children start smoking to be like their film idols.
Ramadoss singled out Shah Rukh Khan, one of the country's biggest stars, for smoking in his movies, but the actor criticized the appeal as amounting to censorship.
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