Tobacco-free Films and TV Rules (2012) has reduced tobacco depictions in Bollywood films, as per a new study released by HRIDAY, a Delhi-based NGO, which studied tobacco incidents in top-grossing Bollywood films between 2006 and 2017.
“The number of tobacco incidents per film was increasing by about 10% per year [incidence rate ratio of 1.1 per year] before the rules took effect in October 2012. However, post-implementation of the rules, the number of tobacco incidents per film began to decline significantly by about 30% per year,” said Gaurang P. Nazar, one of the authors of the study.
Moderate compliance
The study will be published in Tobacco Control journal on Tuesday. “After 2012, there was moderate compliance with the rules that required a static war ning on the screen every time tobacco use was displayed, audio-visual disclaimers and use of anti-tobacco health spots before and at intermission of films with tobacco. Although the level of brand placement was low, some films continued to display tobacco brands even after the rules went into effect,” Dr. Nazar said.
Monika Arora, wh o is also an author, said that it has come down in youth-rated movies too.
“We observed that the percentage of films depicting tobacco incidents in youth-rated [U and U/A rated] films was 76% in 2012. However, since the enforcement of the rules in 2012, this percentage has been reducing [35% in 2017]. This also indicates that rules have been effective in restricting, but not eliminating, the depiction of tobacco imagery in youth-rated films,” Ms. Arora said.
The study was done by HRIDAY, WHO, University of California, San Francisco, the NGO said.
