Juhi wants films to carry mobile phone warning

Every time a character in a film speaks on a mobile phone, across cinema halls in the country, a statutory warning might pop up to warn viewers about the dangers of mobile phone tower radiation, if actor and anti-radiation campaigner Juhi Chawla’s proposal becomes a reality. Reetika Subramanian reports.

Every time a character in a film speaks on a mobile phone, across cinema halls in the country, a statutory warning might pop up to warn viewers about the dangers of mobile phone tower radiation, if actor and anti-radiation campaigner Juhi Chawla’s proposal becomes a reality.

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Chawla plans to approach the Censor Board of Film Certification to make it mandatory for a statutory warning to appear in scenes showing characters using mobile phones.

“People are largely influenced by what actors do on screen. Several films show actors sleeping with a mobile phone by their bedside, or speaking on the phone for a long time. According to studies, keeping a mobile phone too close to the body could affect the person’s health over a period of time,” Chawla said.

Over the past few months, HT has been carrying a series of reports on the health hazards caused by prolonged exposure to mobile phone tower radiation.

Chawla added, “It took us almost four decades to acknowledge the correlation between cigarette smoking and cancer. We can’t let this happen in the case of mobile phones.”