Thanks to the rule book now saying that smoking scenes cannot be depicted in movies, Bejawada, which was released today morning, had to carry a disclaimer saying ‘smoking is injurious to health' in all the scenes wherein a character is seen smoking the cigar.

This was intrusive to say the least. It is understood that the makers had no option.

Since the makers are helpless in such situations, they are at the receiving end of a rule that curbs the creative freedom of the film makers.

Disclaimers like these hamper the narrative. It is universally acknowledged that flashing such messages while the scene is playing sometimes takes the dramatic sheen out of the scene. This was one of the principle arguments of Bollywood against adopting it when it was suggested by a minister some years ago.