MUMBAI: A non-government organization has raised objection against the song ‘Khatra hai bhai khatra hai’ in the movie ‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’ which appears soon after the mandatory health spots are aired in the beginning of the film.

Health Related Information Dissemination amongst Youth (HRIDAY) has dashed off a letter to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) stating this song has purposefully trivialized the impact of tobacco control laws regulating display of tobacco usage scenes in films. HRIDAY has sent a separate letter to the director Vishal Bhardwaj asking him to remove the song from the film as it undermines the impact of tobacco control messages in the film.

Speaking with Radioandmusic.com, HRIDAY senior director Monika Arora said, “Even a single cigarette is harmful and addictive. But the message is trying to compare substances like lemon, water and ghee as harmful if used in excess which is unscientific. I have no idea what the audience will take from this but scientifically its inappropriate.”

In the song a litany of warnings appears, which give a message that “Eating too much lemons will pucker your lips”, “Too much water will leave you bloated”, “Too much ghee is bad for health” etc. The song ends with a message that like excess of everything, excessive smoking/tobacco use is also bad for health.

She added, “There was no need for the new spot when there is a spot already allocated by the government.”

“Film Director has tried to communicate the message of moderation and excess of everything leading to adverse health effects. However this is not true for a product which contains -nicotine’- product more addictive than heroin and cocaine. Literature has proved that even a single cigarette is addictive. This messaging may misinform the consumers and should be urgently deleted from the film for public benefit” added Dr. Arora.

Many teenagers light their first cigarette or use their first tobacco product after watching their favourite actor use tobacco on-screen. A first of its kind study conducted by HRIDAY has found that Indian adolescents who are exposed to tobacco use in Bollywood films are twice as likely to be tobacco users.

Nearly 15 percent of Indian youth consume tobacco in one form or the other and around 5500 youth start using tobacco every day.