Defintion of Obscene
The ways of the national censor Board of India really can surely be described as puzzling at its best. Its rulebook clearly defines what is proper vs improper. But alas, like the rest of the system, they are openly flouted by the influencial and rich produers. Sometimes it just tricks its way of abiding by the rules and at other times it is a clear violation. For ex. None of the Indian movies shows full nudity. However almost all the commercial hindi movies have dance sequences in them which has the hero gyrating his hips and the Heroine/female counterpart dutifully obiliging. The clothing goes from well covered during normal dialogue delivery sequence to barely covered during those dance scenes which are also known as 'item numbers'. In fact it is now almost a special privileage to be the item girl.You will be in great demand if you achieve that status due to the fact that almost all the movies have at least a couple of these 'item song' sequences. For that matter, even the wordings of some of the songs 'Bheegay Honth Tere' (murder) and Hum to Tamboo mein Bamboo (Mard),Sari Hawaa ho gayi (Mawali) not only sounds dirty but also stupid.

So the question arises as to what is really 'Obscene'? Is it just nudity without a reason that should be discouraged or should it encompass a much broader definition? To me, explicit nudity is as obscene as implicit implication of any sexual acts or its expression in any language form. For that matter showing the bare body Lallo coming out of his bathroom (he was featured in Jeena Isi Ka Naam hai) should have been censored by our revered censor board but may be politics played a major role in ensuring that the viewers get a chance to see Laloo in his self imposed role as a shepherd.

On a separate note, I think that the directors in Bollywood have realized the fact that although Sex does not sell by itself all the time, a moview with a good storyline with ample doses of violence, item songs and a little bit of profanity is a good sell for the indian audience. As a result, almost 90% of the movies coming out of Bollywood cannot be viewed with the entire family. This is true even for moviews which have a U/A certificate.

If and only when there is a total overhauling of the media(not juct cinema) which includes TV, the newspaper, banner ads in addition to the movies in terms of what needs to be shown to which audience, would the censor board work true to its worth.

Debate between right and wrong:

Ain't this the most difficult question of all? What is right for one may be grossly wrong for the other. What is considered very right in one place may be downright offensive at a different place. Wearing a veil in Arab nations may be very appropriate but is considered ludicrous in the Western World. Talking about sex may be allright in US but is a big taboo in the orient. Forget the outside world, it often crops up its head between couples. It is so common to have the husband think red and the wife think blue all the time. Offcourse people who are headstrong / stubborn offcourse do not have this problem of deciding. It is someone like me who are always confused between the right and wrong options. I somehow try to think from both the sides before deciding upon one or the other option and in the process end up of being totally confused.

The great leader Swami Vivekananda once said, if you think of the repercussions of your work, you will spend all your life thinking about it. So go on and engage yourself, and think about the results later. So let that be our Mantra and get off your butt, stop reading this and get back to your work!