NEW DELHI: Films depicting consumption or trafficking of drugs will now carry an anti-drug warning, the broadcast ministry notified on Wednesday.According to the guidelines amended under the Cinematograph Act, such movie scenes will carry the warning: “Illicit Narcotics Destroy Health and Guarantees Imprisonment. Say No to Drugs”.The move follows a similar direction issued to OTT platforms by the ministry last month, asking them to prominently display the same warning during scenes showing the consumption or use of narcotic drugs. A similar advisory was also issued to private satellite television channels.The latest change marks a departure from the earlier film certification guidelines, under which the central board of film certification (CBFC) was required to ensure that scenes that could “encourage, justify or glamorise drug addiction” were not shown. However, those guidelines did not mandate a specific warning to be displayed on screen.The film certification guidelines set out the principles that the CBFC must follow while examining films for public exhibition under the Cinematograph Act. They were last amended in May 2025, when the government added three age-based parental guidance categories — U/A 7+, U/A 13+ and U/A 16+. Introduced through amendments to the Cinematograph Act in 2023, the categories require parental guidance for children below seven, 13 and 16 years, respectively.The guidelines also require the CBFC to ensure that anti-social activities, including violence, are not glorified or justified, while criminal methods that could encourage offences are not depicted. They also prohibit scenes that encourage, justify or glamorise drug addiction.
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In addition, the guidelines cover depictions of violence, cruelty and sexual content, as well as material that could affect public order, the security of the State or India’s relations with foreign countries.On Wednesday, the Centre also reconstituted the CBFC, appointing actors Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi, Suniel Shetty, Pallavi Joshi and Prosenjit Chatterjee, filmmaker Priyadarshan and Grammy-winning musician Ricky Kej, among others, to the new 18-member board.
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