-Deccan Herald Amid controversy over sensitive scenes in Kamal Haasan’s film “Vishwaroopam,” which is expected to release in Tamil Nadu on February 7 after some cuts by the filmmaker, the Centre has set up a committee to revisit the Cinematograph Act and recommend measures to enable the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to deal with “contemporary requirements of certification.” The eight-member panel, to be headed by former chief justice of Punjab...

-The Hindu With every passing controversy, we’re learning to redefine our rights, says Baradwaj Rangan This is the story of two YouTube videos. The first one came up bare hours before I sat down to write this, and it featured an actor, a producer, a director announcing to a media gathering that he was now homeless in every sense. His new production, the one that had sucked up his life’s savings, still...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Birla ho ya Tata, Ambani ho ya Bata Sabne apne chakkar mein des ko hai kaata Are humre hi khoon se inka Engine chale dhakadhak (Be it Birla or Tata, Ambani or Bata Everyone has exploited the nation for their own benefit Their engine runs on our blood) The names of some of India's top corporate houses may seem to rhyme well in this Bollywood ballad, but its drift, insinuating that business groups like...

-IANS The newspaper advertisements of Madhur Bhandarkar's upcoming movie "Heroine", that features lead actress Kareena Kapoor with a cigarette on movie sets, have drawn flak for blatant violation of anti-tobacco laws. In a letter written to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, NGO Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth (HRIDAY) points out violation of law, regulating display of tobacco use in films. "Leading national dailies (on May 23) and online versions of several...

Now, Bollywood movies won't have to run a scroll with anti-tobacco messages each time a smoking scene is shown. India has for the time-being shelved a notification that had come into effect on November 14, 2011. The notification had made it mandatory for all new movies that had scenes pertaining to smoking or tobacco use, to provide health warnings at the bottom of the screen all through the duration of the...