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Bollywood Denial:'Films glamourize alcohol to kids'


YES, IT IS HARD TO BREAK says young members of Pehchaan Radio club Mandi village Delhi  
MUMBAI: After being blamed for tobacco use, Bollywood is now being blamed for promoting alcohol to India's youth.
NGOs PHFI ( Public Health Foundation of India) and HRIDAY(Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth) made two shocking findings after interviewing around 4,000 Delhi school children who watched Bollywood films. "Firstly, we found that 10% of these students who were in the 12-16 age group had already tried alcohol,'' said PHFI's Monika Arora, a principal investigator of the study. Secondly, the study found students that had been most exposed to alcohol use in Bollywood movies were found to be 2.78 times more likely to have tried alcohol compared with those who were least exposed....
Bollywood is outraged. After being blamed for India’s water woes, encouraging smoking and inspiring real life crime, now a new study has held it responsible for the increasing alcoholism among youngsters. 


Film fraternity, however, trashes the study. “I can’t possibly see any connection between the two. Isn’t Bollywood becoming too convenient a punching bag? People need to use their imagination and resources better,” says Milan Luthria, who directed 2011 blockbuster, The Dirty Picture. 

“I don’t think Bollywood is to blame. There are a lot of other factors that lead to alcohol consumption. It is most easy to blame the film industry.  Why don’t people see the good things in our films?” asks filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, who showed actors drinking in his 2008 film, Fashion. 

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