Indian onscreen smoking ban goes up in smoke

It is the sort of news to cheer Nick Naylor, the shameless tobacco lobbyist of Jason Reitman's Thank You for Smoking: Indian film stars are again free to puff on cigarettes onscreen after a New Delhi high court overturned a federal ban. Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul ruled on Friday that a 2005 act to ban smoking on film and TV was unnecessary, and restricted film-makers' freedoms, Variety reports. "Directors should not have multifarious authorities breathing down their necks when indulging in the creative act," he said. "A cinematographic film must reflect the realities of life. Smoking is a reality of life. It may be undesirable, but it exists." The ruling comes after a legal challenge from Mahesh Bhatt, the influential Indian writer, director and producer whose recent films include the unashamedly commercial Raaz, Jism and Murder. The move is a setback for health campaigners, who had welcomed the ban. The act had also forced distributors and exhibitors to show health warnings on older films if they featured cigarette smoking.