Here’s what Mumbaikars think about the ‘Bombay Begums’ controversy

A still from Bombay Begums. Picture courtesy/PR

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked Netflix to stop streaming their new show, ‘Bombay Begums' on Thursday, after receiving a complaint about it. The child rights body sent a notice to the OTT platform asking them to provide a detailed action report within 24 hours, or face legal action. Taking note of the alleged inappropriate portrayal of children, the NCPCR said the show's content might result in children being exploited and abused.
In the notice to Netflix, the commission said, "Netflix should take extra precaution while streaming any content in respect of the children or for the children and shall also refrain themselves from getting into such things.

Also Read: NCPCR asks Netflix to stop streaming Bombay Begums over inappropriate portrayal of children

"Therefore, you are directed to look into this matter and immediately stop streaming of this series and furnish a detailed action report within 24 hours, failing which the Commission will be constrained to initiate appropriate action pursuant to the provisions of Section 14 of the CPCR (Commission for Protection of Child Rights) Act, 2005."

Priyank Kanoongo, Chairperson, NCPCR, told NDTV, "What's wrong is wrong. Adults or children should not be groomed in a wrong way. We are waiting for a response from Netflix. We will figure what to do next after their response."

Mid-day.com reached out to Mumbaikars for their views on the portrayal of alcohol and substance abuse in the context of minors in pop culture.

Dr Nahid Dave, psychiatrist, Thought Matters, Mumbai
Kids these days are very impressionable - what they see, they want to emulate, knowingly or unknowingly. Platforms which are easily available, which a child may be watching or just come across while flipping channels, may affect their subconscious; it might be something they feel - "this is what I want to do, or how I want to relax". That will have a very bad influence on the community. There are a lot of teenagers these days who have YouTube channels where they are putting out a variety of content - that's what the trend is. They try to adapt things and add their creativity to it. For OTT platforms, you need to subscribe and log in; TV channels and other media are more easily accessible. As far as OTT platforms are concerned the responsibility also falls on the viewer regarding what content they are watching. Content producers need to be careful about which platform they are portraying things on.

Arti Shroff, psychologist and counsellor, Mumbai
There is a fine line between what they want to project as ‘cinema', and normalising risk-taking behaviours in adolescents. We have often seen that ‘normalising' or ‘glamourising' such kind of content can lead to a rise in the prevalence of such behaviours; this is often termed by researchers as the ‘copycat effect'. However, this does not mean that the rise in risk-taking and injurious behaviours - such as engaging in drug use in this case - will occur only because of what is seen in the media. What we see in the show ‘Bombay Begums' is a true reflection of what we see in reality. We see a young adolescent girl who is dealing with numerous psychological disturbances, such as body-image issues, family conflict, peer pressure, anger issues, grief and low self-esteem, to name only a few. It is no surprise that she turns to drugs to cope with these challenges. According to me, it is a double-edged sword. I do not think depicting the reality is wrong, but it needs to be shown in the right context; turning a blind eye to real-life problems is not the solution. Instead, what they should do is ensure the audience is provided with disclaimers to inform viewers about potential risks and harm, as well as providing them with information on relevant mental health professional services.

Vijayalakshmi Narayanan, senior creative content writer, radiocity.in, Mumbai
Makers are telling the stories they believe in, which must be told. If they have to be mindful about everyone's sentiments, the purpose of storytelling is lost. The primary goal of art is to engage and start a dialogue about issues that remain unaddressed among us. Given how misled and unaware our society is about these issues, art holds the mirror to our collective conscience. When you are portraying the truth, it is unsettling and uncomfortable. Also, teenagers are indulging in such activities, and the purpose of recreating them is to create awareness among parents, who are the target audience of shows such as ‘Bombay Begums'.

Sheryl Fonseca, Principal, D'silva High School, Bhayander West
It is important for the parents to talk to their children and be their friend more than a parent. It will help them understand their children better and even keep a check on their friend's circle so that they don't fall into bad company that can influence them and keep a check on what their children are watching." Fonseca says if the child does get influenced by bad company, then the parents should consider taking the child for a counseling session.

Chinmay Patil, college student, Mumbai
I think it will be a bad influence on teenagers, because more than parents, their kids use Netflix these days. And if they already think smoking and doing drugs is cool, watching it on a show will lead to an even greater curiosity to try these things.

Shruti Nair, college student, Mumbai
Teenagers today are already widely influenced by drug abuse, and the government and various NGOs have put in place methods and measures to stop this. Showing drug abuse on OTT platforms, TV serials or movies encourages more teenagers to use drugs and consume alcohol. I know that not every teenager gets influenced easily, but it's still a huge risk, and I think the NCPCR decision is correct, because even a small step towards ending drug and alcohol abuse could bring a tremendous change in the lives of teenagers.

Jayshree Vaswani, parent, Mumbai
I am the parent of a teenager and have watched the series ‘Bombay Begums' with my daughter. OTT platforms show teenagers taking drugs and drinking, however, they also show the negative impact it has on lives; how it ruins a teenager in some way or the other. Violence, kidnapping and rape is common content in our Bollywood movies. If we need to ban drugs and drinking being showed, then we need to ban all types of movies, as they can all have a negative impact. But really, I don't think ‘Bombay Begums' should be banned. We need to watch OTT content with an open mind, and teach our teenagers to do the same thing.

(Inputs by Anuka Roy)