It is not a clean picture anymore!

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Updated: Apr 24, 2012, 17:11 PM IST

There is just too much moral policing in this country. What to wear, how to behave, what to watch – everything is decided by the government. In a democracy, where the ones in power are elected by the people of the country, it is ironical that every move (almost) is dictated by the government.
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When you think about it, moral policing is also out of sheer convenience. Like blaming women for being out late at night or dressing up provocatively for increasing crime rate against women or allowing a porn star to do a pole dance on prime television or giving a green signal to much talked about ‘The Dirty Picture’ for big screens, but shying away from showing it to TV audience.
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So when the entire country goes gaga about Vidya’s oomphy act in ‘TDP’, the government sits up, applauds her performance, gives her a National Award. Then when two PILs are filed in courts, the government nods and agrees that the film is horribly adult in content and not suitable for family audience in spite of 59 cuts. Jumping the bandwagon, aren’t we?
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If the film can pass the censors and become a blockbuster, why curtail its viewing almost six months later? Why allow it for viewing post 11 pm only? It isn’t meant for family audience agreed, then why give permission to the channel to show it in the first place?
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Which brings me to another very pertinent question - Why only stop prime time viewing of ‘TDP’? If the government is so concerned about what is being shown on television, how come shows like Roadies, Bigg Boss and the like are given clean chit year after year? If the young audience gets affected by the adult content of the film, what about the abuses that are hurled in almost every episode of all the reality shows?
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Ram Kapoor and Sakshi Tanwar’s much talked about love making scene created ripples on television. Many thought, the show (Bade Achhe Lagte Hain) had heralded a new era on Indian television. Perhaps, we were too quick to judge, because just a month later the film screening was cancelled at the last moment. If you can allow kids to know who is Sunny Leone and why she is so famous, why stop them from knowing about the life of Silk Smitha?
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This is not the first time that PILs have been filed against the shows aired on television. Complaints were lodged when Colors had shown Veena Malik canoodling to Ashmit Patel by the pool side. The issue had, in fact, been raised in Parliament as well. But that’s about it. Did they stop airing the show altogether? No. In fact the next year, it just became more bitchy, more ludicrous.
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The curtailing of various ‘adult’ content just makes it more enticing, and believe me, we have other ways of watching things which are banned on TV. As they say, when you try to repress something, the curiosity level goes several notches higher.
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It is okay to watch Sunny Leone do a pole dance for the inmates of Bigg Boss, it is okay for various deodorant companies to have double meaning advertisements, it is okay to laugh on adulterous comedies like ‘No Entry’ and ‘Masti’ (both of which have been aired on prime time television innumerable times) and it is even okay to watch Jagiya cheat on Anandi (on hit serial Balika Vadhu). But it is not okay to watch a plump Vidya show some extra cleavage and gyrate to ‘Ooh la la’ because suddenly the government has woken up from a deep slumber.
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We are bored, dear government. Whenever you remind us about Indian values and customs, we yawn a bit. We think you need a reality check. Because the country and its youth have taken a giant leap and you are still stuck in a time zone, when things were simpler and pristinely clean. Times have changed and moral policing according to your own convenience just reflects the double standards that exist in our society. Grow up.

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