‘Bombay Begums’ in trouble over portrayal of minors

Did the angsty series give up sensitivity in a party scene involving children?

The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights has slammed Alankrita Shrivastava, director of the web series ‘Bombay Begums’, for inappropriate portrayal of children.

Last week, the commission sought the removal of portions showing minors drinking and snorting cocaine. “Netflix should take extra precaution while streaming any content related to children,” it said.

Writing for the OTT can be tricky, well-known Kannada filmmaker Pawan Kumar tells Showtime. “I have learnt to stay away from writing content which involves animals, as it is quite difficult to overcome the hurdles connected to them,” says Pawan, who co-directed the Netflix web series ‘Leila’.

Pawan says filmmakers need to be conscious of the thin line between creating awareness and glorifying undesirable practices. “There have been times when I have taken a decision to retain some content in my works as I am convinced about its necessity,” adds Pawan, terming the perspective ‘subjective’.

‘Objectionable’

M K Raghavendra, well-known film critic, finds the scenes objectionable. “The idea that minors drink or snort cocaine in a certain class is itself not unrealistic but there is no reason to show it explicitly. It can be suggested; cinema has so many ways of suggesting or implying, without showing,” he says.

Raghavendra found the scenes execrable. “Has anyone heard of students protesting that the son of a sex worker is studying with them and demanding his expulsion? How did the students find out? Was it declared in his application? ‘Realism’ is a weak excuse for the party scene,” he says.

‘Balance is important’

Adarsh Eshwarappa, director of Kannada film ‘Bhinna’, Kannada’s first direct-to-OTT release, thinks many might have found it tough to relate to the elite society portrayed in the series.

“This could be why some people argue that ‘Bombay Begums’ has a strong Western influence. Though the characters’ lifestyle appears uncommon for a majority of people, these incidents do take place,” he says.

Adarsh describes how cautious he was while making ‘Shuddhi’. “We used more audio than visuals to depict a horrific incident in the forest. That made people equally uneasy and left an impact,” he says.

‘Young minds vulnerable’

Dr Meena Gnanasekharan, child psychiatrist, says such scenes encourage children to behave inappropriately.

“I feel the episode normalises under-age children consuming drugs and alcohol at parties. Children are bound to be influenced by it, especially now, with the exposure being high and everything being accessible. Also we must not forget that children badly want to fit into their peer groups,” she says.

What do the scenes show?

‘Bombay Begums’ explores the lives of five urban women in cut-throat Mumbai. In the fifth episode, Shai, a minor girl, attends the birthday party of Imran, her school crush. When she is not able to grab his attention, she goes to a corner where other youngsters are snorting cocaine. She tries it too. Imran is downing alcohol in the same episode. She soon lies in a pool of her own vomit and gets hospitalised.

The child rights commission has also complained that ‘Bombay Begums’ normalises minors having sex.