Life & Style

India clamps down on Bigg Boss, Rakhi ka Insaaf

Regulators order channels not to broadcast reality shows before 11 pm over fears about increasingly adult content.

Afp November 18, 2010

NEW DELHI: Indian regulators have ordered television channels not to broadcast reality shows before 11:00 pm over fears about their increasingly adult content, reports said Thursday.

Two hugely popular programmes, "Bigg Boss", the local version of "Big Brother", and "Rakhi ka Insaaf", will be hit by the ruling from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the Indian Express said.

The government and affected channels declined to confirm the crackdown, and the shows have continued to air in their regular prime time slots.

The fourth series of "Bigg Boss" attracted the headlines this week with the arrival of scantily-clad Hollywood actress and model Pamela Anderson. Kissing and abusive language have also caused regular scandals on the show.

"Rakhi ka Insaaf" ("Rakhi's Justice"), in which opinionated Bollywood dancer Rakhi Sawant tackles people's personal problems, hit controversy recently when a former participant committed suicide.

His family blamed the show's host, saying he fell into depression after Sawant called him impotent while she tried to sort out his marital difficulties.

"We have not asked the producers of the show to modify content or have not done any sort of censoring, just shifted the time slots allotted to them," a senior ministry official told The Indian Express.

According to The Times of India, the government also instructed news channels not to broadcast footage from the shows while reporting on them.

"I have my kids watching TV during the 9:00 pm slot and it's disgusting. Indian values are different. Shows like 'Bigg Boss' are not made for our culture," housewife Meena Patel told the Times.

But Bollywood filmmaker Farah Khan tweeted against the ruling, calling it hypocritical and saying that parents should take responsibility for what their children watch.

"Gd mrning!so1 guess vr being told what 2 watch n exctly at wht time!uff yeh adarsh yeh asool!such hypocrisy.jst kp rmote away frm ur kids na"

In March the ministry suspended the France-based channel Fashion TV for nine days for falling foul of obscenity laws by broadcasting bare-breasted models during a fashion show in 2009.

COMMENTS (5)

Tyrone | 14 years ago | Reply This is the clash of the two Indias one would not expect such uproar from a country that is projected as modern and liberal. However countries even the USA are a melting pot and the oft repeated refrain of culture (here in Pakistan it's well used barrier to progress) rears its head. All people around the world struggle to match traditional conservative values and principles with modernism, materialism and forwardness. However the Indian culture vultures would do well to speak up against the bad elements of culture: The caste system, the murder of girl children, social repression, the Hindutva fanatics, the unbelievably high pressure to succeed at academic levels. Hmm everywhere there seems to be a duality the land of the Karma Sutra and the tantric sex (yes made famous by American Pie) is talking about adult content and indecency? So what do they do at the historical places? Cover up the carvings? Here's a line or two from a website about vacations in India describing a temple in Madyha Pradesh- Khauraho and its artwork. Worth a read: "The intricately done carvings are highly erotic and sensual attempting to depict in pure form a whole range of human emotions and relationships. Dedicated to human love and passion, the images send a clear message that sensuality is not a degraded emotion but a pious virtue essential for the continuation of the human race." And I don't want to offend but Hindu 'mythology is also full of sexual references and stories - the Shiv Ling tale as one that comes easily to mind. Further down in history even celebrated people like Akbar and the Moghuls, the rajas all having multiple wives, concubines galore. I'm sure India like Pakistan has its own Romeo-Juliet type tales that are part of folklore, in most the relationship between the two protagonists is surely far from platonic isn't it? They were lovers in the physical and definitely sexual sense weren't they? One one side India celebrates its culture that embraces all these explicit sensual and sexual references and tributes on the other it plays hypocrite and pleads affront to culture for TV shows and movies etc. By the way the Indian Censor Board or government or moral police (whoever) have no issue with the filth that they call dramas being aired during times when children watch? Men/women having affairs, household conniving that would do Machiavelli proud and illegitmate children appearing as if out of thin air is healthy wholesome culture friendly viewing? Words fail me. Tyrone

A.Kathrani | 14 years ago | Reply The average Indian household which has just one Tv and sometimes just one room, have to be careful with what they watch. Their standard of living and values are different from the urban middle/upper class. They should respect the masses viewpoint.

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A S Rao, Guntur ( India ) | 14 years ago | Reply I guess you Pakistanis consider all of India as a monolithic nation; it is not. In fact, we, the people from Southern India, are entirely divergent from the north Indians ethnically, linguistically, culturally and in every other yardstick of social life. That we are entirely divergent cultures can be understood by the fact that we hardly comprehend the predominant north Indian language, Hindi (and Urdu too) and vice versa. But for the British, we would have remained separate nations out of the orbit of Indian polity.

Rehan | 14 years ago | Reply Tribune's Home Tab reads as :- Trending: Blasphemy Powercrisis Biggboss Eid Terrorism Policetorture Cricket Wtf?!

Rajat | 14 years ago | Reply As much gross as these programs are. I agree with Farah Khan. Its not without reason that the power off/on button of the remote is usually the largest.I guess present day indians are mature enough to see what they want and when they want, we don't need the government telling us.

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