Smoking and substance abuse creates censor problems in Rangoon

27 Jan 2017

The CBFC has asked the makers of Rangoon to add a statutory warning in scenes showing characters smoking and indulging in substance abuse. Apparently the film is carpeted with scenes showing the characters smoking and indulging in drug abuse. Since the film is set in the 1940s when it was considered fashionable to smoke, Rangoon has characters smoking constantly. In such cases its better to keep the statutory scroll on throughout the film. But we leave it to the films makers to decide what they want to do. Scenes showing substance abuse have also not gone down with the CBFC. Weve asked all such scenes to be deleted. Drug abuse and smoking is not something we encourage in our films. Smoking may have been fashionable in the past. But now it is as unacceptable as eve teasing and stalking. To see glamorous characters getting high on drugs is not CBFCs idea of an evening of fun at the movies, says censor chief Pahlaj Nihalani.