Animals to go off the screen

[Guest guest]

The Sentinel

Guwahati, 4th April 2006 Link: www.sentinelassam.com

 

Animal Welfare Board's stricture on featuring animals

Animals to go off the screen

CHENNAI, April 3: (IANS) Elephants saving damsels in distress,

cobras punishing cruel villains, monkeys in the company of comedians

and tigers being tamed by heroes. Until recently, all these were

recurring images on the Tamil and Telugu screens.

Celluloid animals, however, are now a vanishing species in these

sections of south Indian cinema. The Animal Welfare Board and the

censors have made it hard for animals to survive in the world of

cinema.

Vanishing with the animal artistes are their trainers, too. " This

has led to a loss of employment for many, " lamented Ramadas, a

veteran trainer of animals for Tamil films. In an interview with

Tamil media, he talked about many erstwhile associates who have left

their jobs and gone home - like Narayanan from Kerala who supplied

elephants, Paramasivam who had a stock of cheetahs and bears, and

Mastan with an assortment of snakes.

Only dogs, said Ramadas, are still getting some acting

opportunities. " Even if an animal is used for one scene in a film,

the board's permission has to be obtained. If any scene depicts the

suffering or death of an animal, the censors demand an explanation

about how the scene was shot, " added Ramadas.

Because of these rules, according to him, many producers avoid

scenes featuring animals in their films - or resort to graphics in

place of real animals.

Producers of Telugu films, too, are learning the same lesson, the

hard way. Sri Ramadasu, a devotional film, ran into serious trouble

with the board and the censors for a scene depicting the killing of

a deer. Animal scenes also delayed the release of Party and

Sambhavami Yuge Yuge.

[Guest guest]

The report from The Sentinel is totally skewed.

The Performing Animals Rules under the PCA Act were legislated in 2001. The

producers of films have had over five years to clean up their act.

These Rules were brought in with great difficulty in view of the terrible

cruelty inflicted by so-called animal trainers for animals used in films. Uma

Devi - the lioness - is a classic example of mistreatment. Her mouth was sewn

up dozens of times for each film she acted in - and the mouth remained stitched

for hours at a time. Bokhadia burnt over a hundred snakes in a film in the mid

nineties. When asked by a reporter about the complaints from animal welfare

people who had mentioned that in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the

snakes shown were made of rubber with a bi-metallic strip inside so that the

differential expansion made it appear that the snakes were writhing in pain as

the cave was set on fire, Bokhadia replied that he had burnt only a hundred

shakes since he could not afford to burn a thousand.

 

In SIVA, Rajnikanth's film, the actor is shown wrestling with a leopard. The

brave man and a leopard with its stiched up mouth bleeding at the stiches. Hen

coops were set afire and hundreds of hens burnt. Horses were actually tripped -

all in the name of realism.

 

As a member of the five-member committee to view the films before permission is

given, all I can say is that five years after the Rules are in place, hardly any

film producer takes the required permission before shooting of the film. The

Rules call for a representative of the Animal Welfare Board to be present during

the shooting. This is essential since the cruelty generally takes place before

and during shooting and is not necessarily shown on the screen.

 

During the last two months alone, at least a dozen films have been approved by

the AWBI where elephants are used. Dozens more with other animals.

 

In only three or four cases has any objection been raised and scenes asked to be

deleted.

Where wild animals are used, ownership certificates issued by the Forest

Department are asked for.

 

For those who would like to read the Rules for themselves, please visit

www.bluecross.org.in, click on " PCA Act " , and then on " Rules " and scroll down

till you see the Performing Animals Rules.

I am sure that no reader will call the above Rules unreasonable in any way.

 

Dr. S. Chinny Krishna Blue Cross of India

 

 

azam24x7 [azamsiddiqui]

Tuesday, April 04, 2006 11:21 AM

aapn Animals to go off the screen

 

The Sentinel Guwahati, 4th April 2006

Link: www.sentinelassam.com

Animal Welfare Board's stricture on featuring animals Animals to go off the

screen CHENNAI, April 3: (IANS)

Elephants saving damsels in distress, cobras punishing cruel villains, monkeys

in the company of comedians and tigers being tamed by heroes. Until recently,

all these were recurring images on the Tamil and Telugu screens.

Celluloid animals, however, are now a vanishing species in these sections of

south Indian cinema. The Animal Welfare Board and the censors have made it hard

for animals to survive in the world of cinema.

Vanishing with the animal artistes are their trainers, too. " This has led to a

loss of employment for many, " lamented Ramadas, a veteran trainer of animals for

Tamil films. In an interview with Tamil media, he talked about many erstwhile

associates who have left their jobs and gone home - like Narayanan from Kerala

who supplied elephants, Paramasivam who had a stock of cheetahs and bears, and

Mastan with an assortment of snakes.

Only dogs, said Ramadas, are still getting some acting opportunities. " Even if

an animal is used for one scene in a film, the board's permission has to be

obtained. If any scene depicts the suffering or death of an animal, the censors

demand an explanation about how the scene was shot, " added Ramadas.

Because of these rules, according to him, many producers avoid scenes featuring

animals in their films - or resort to graphics in place of real animals.

Producers of Telugu films, too, are learning the same lesson, the hard way. Sri

Ramadasu, a devotional film, ran into serious trouble with the board and the

censors for a scene depicting the killing of a deer. Animal scenes also delayed

the release of Party and Sambhavami Yuge Yuge.