Now, a fiction show comes under BCCC scanner

As the complaints council gears up to monitor TV content more closely, the channels will have to be more alert.

After Bindass' apology scroll for content violation in one of its non-fiction shows, Emotional Atyachaar, now it's time for Zee TV and Big CBS Prime to run apology scrolls for a period of seven and five days, respectively.

Zee TV's show, Qubool Hai, is the first fiction property that has come under the scanner of the Broadcast Content Complaints Council (BCCC) and asked to run the scroll. Episode 89 of the show telecast on February, 28 had attracted a complaint for showing violence against women.

The episode showed a lady being tortured and hung upside down with a rope in a scene that lasted for four minutes. Other similar complaints against the show cited instances like mixing acid in mehendi and throwing a live electric wire in the bathtub. The council suggests that the episode violated IBF's self-regulation guidelines and the Programme Code.

The show was also considered to have opposed the advisory issued by the council on Portrayal of Women in TV Programmes. The advisory clearly suggested that the "channels should think carefully before telecasting shows in which women are portrayed as commodities, subjected to excessive violence and abused on screen."

Considering this, the channel has been asked to run an apology scroll in English and Hindi, thrice during each telecast of the programme, 'Qubool Hai', over a period of five days, from Monday July, 29 to Friday, August, 2.

In yet another complaint upheld by the council, Big CBS Prime's fiction show, Dead Zone has also received complaints against its December, 1 episode. The said episode telecast intimate and vulgar scenes at 8.56 pm, which is prime-time.

The channel in the first defence opportunity said that it was a niche channel, watched by select audience only. However, when the channel representatives appeared in front of the council, they submitted that this was due to a problem encountered with their standard and practices (S&P) department. The channel also said that they had restructured the department and that violations will not occur in the future.

The council has recommended that the ministry issues a warning to the channel, with regard to the above mentioned content. Also, the channel will have to run an apology scroll for seven days, starting 12 noon on Wednesday, July 31 to 10 am on Wednesday, August, 7, every two hours.