‘This kind of content will destroy our culture.’
IMAGE: Bipasha Basu in Jism, the film that provoked Uday Mahurkar into moving the Supreme Court over vulgar content.
The Supreme Court of India on April 28 raised serious concerns over obscene content on Over the Top (OTT) platforms and on social media, and stated some regulation is needed.
The apex court also sought a response from the Union government, Amazon Prime, Netflix, ALTT, Ullu, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X seeking their detailed perspective and replies.
The court action came on a public interest litigation filed by former Central Information Commissioner Uday Mahurkar urging the apex court to ban such OTT platforms which were promoting obscene and vulgar content in India.
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“Husband and wife having sex is a private matter, why do you want to showcase it in public? This is not good,” Mahurkar tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.
Why did you go to court over vulgarity shown on OTT channels, what prompted it?
Let me take you back to 2003. There was a movie called Jism starring Bipasha Basu. The subject of the movie was the infidelity of a married woman. At that point I had raised objections over this movie’s subject at a seminar that was held for a nationalist cause. I had pointed out way back then that if we as a society continue to go like the movie Jism portrays, we will be over as a society.
Unfortunately, people who were closely associated with promoting Indian cultural values could not do much against it. Post Jism, the trend of making movies on such subjects started growing. I took every community together, be it Muslims, Parsis, Sikhs, Christians and Hindus to save family values from movies like Jism. Unfortunately, I met with little success then.
But what was your objection to Jism?
It was perverted content. In 2018, OTT content came. Today, OTT has become desi porn.
In 2020, we faced the Covid pandemic and the OTT condition worsened with more and more obscene movies being showcased.
Right now there are 909 OTT platforms in India. Out of these 909 OTT platforms, 700 to 800 of them showcase either vulgar or obscene content.
These OTT channels have stooped so low that they are showing father-in-law having an affair with daughter-in-law or teacher having an affair with student or brother-in-law having affair with his brother’s wife.
This kind of content will destroy our culture in future.
But was not pornography available before OTT too?
It was, but now OTT has worsened the situation by making pornography easily accessible.
By showcasing perverted content on OTT, one can influence and damage the minds of our teenage children.
In 2022, when I was Right to Information commissioner, I met a friend who told me that our culture is in danger if we keep on going like this with OTT content.
He also told me that the influence of Bollywood on society was so strong that no one would listen to our pleas on OTT content.
We also came to the conclusion that pornography is a cause of rape. And if we wanted to, we had to prove it. Once proved, there will be awareness in the society.
Do you seriously believe what is shown on some OTT channels leads to rapes?
Yes, 100 percent. I have proof.
Did you give any examples in your PIL?
Yes, we submitted all the proof in court.
You must have read about kids raping other kids. Recently there was a case where a 55-year-old man raped his brother’s young daughter.
There is a famous case in Florida, US, where the accused admitted that he got addicted to watching pornography from childhood. And when he raped a girl for the first time he killed the girl to hide evidence of his crime. This became a habit for him. And when he met other rape accused in Florida jail, he said all accused stated that pornography was the reason they started raping women.
We have done research on this subject and therefore want action against OTT channels showcasing porn content.
Which OTT channels in particular?
There are many like Alt Balaji, Ullu, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video. We have taken examples of films and taken details of every film that has been showcased on these OTT channels which are obscene.
Netflix had 125 films that showcased obscene content. Another one from Ekta Kapoor is XXX Uncensored. The less I say about it the better it is because it crosses all the limits of decency.
You also wanted Ekta Kapoor to be arrested under the POCSO (Protection of Child from Sexual Offences) Act. Is this not going too far?
No, not at all. When you are showcasing a girl in school uniform involved in intimate scenes, then you got to be arrested under POCSO.
How do you control these OTT platforms?
Ban them. Muslim countries do not allow such content to be telecast. Singapore and South Korea are the other two countries where such content is strictly monitored.
Why don’t we regulate OTT platforms?
It is because Ekta Kapoor and other Bollywood biggies have a tremendous influence on our society.
Why has the government failed to take action against OTT channels?
We appealed to them but they have not done anything on this issue yet. Only once were 18 OTT channels and 57 social media handles banned by the Government of India.
Once the Ullu app was bringing in its IPO but then I approached SEBI (the Securities of Exchange Board of India) against them through my NGO, Save Culture Save Bharat Foundation. I told SEBI that Ullu claimed they are an entertainment company but I registered a protest at SEBI stating they are a porn-based company. After which their IPO did not come out.
It is said that movies depict what happens in society. Do you feel so?
No, this is wrong analysis. Freedom comes with responsibility.
This is also written in the Indian Constitution. You cannot misuse your creative freedom. We want a complete ban on porn in India. Fifty years ago there was no porn and people in India were living, isn’t it?
Are you saying 50 years ago rapes were not happening in India?
This is a matter of research. I am talking about right now, rapes are happening because of the porn industry.
Husband and wife having sex is a private matter, why do you want to showcase it in public? This is not good.
A film director once told me titillation is very natural for a human being and when you showcase it on the big screen it sells.
This is wrong. This particular director wants to sell his dirty thoughts to the public so he made this statement to you.
Moreover, we believe in Viksit Bharat and if you showcase such content on OTT, will we ever be able to achieve our goal by 2047?
Today, the whole world is looking at us and we need to save our culture.