The animal welfare board steps into SOS

As though warning tickers for every frame, shot and scene showing a character smoking were not enough, now it seems filmmakers also need to warn audiences of the hazards of performing dangerous stunts.

In the just-released Ajay Devgn Diwali dhamaka Son Of Sardaar, a lengthy stunt involving Devgn on a horse and a supporting actor on a motorbike carries a ticker- warning saying the stunts were generated through computer graphics.

Contrary to belief, the unprecedented move of warning audiences off the stunts was not a censorial demand.

A source close to the censor board protests, "This statutory warning that accompanies the stunts in Son Of Sardaar has nothing to with the CBFC. Since it involves a horse the Animal Welfare Board asked for it. The makers had no choice but to comply."

Be as it might, if major action sequences in films have to be accompanied by statutory warnings, who would take these stunts seriously?

Says a leading producer, "I haven't seen Son Of Sardaar yet. But if they've been asked to insert a warning in one of Ajay's stunts then I am really scared for movies. If a character is smoking we've to warn against cancer. If the hero is performing daring stunts we've to declare they are computer-generated. Next, if the heroine cries we may have to declare the tears are glycerin-induced. What happens to the magic of the movies?"