Prasad J wrote:
However I can see that any entertainment that deviates from the politically correct monotony of Bollywood could be interpreted as profanityNot really, we get "Will & Grace" here which is based on homosexuality-which is still taboo in India. Nobody has objected to that show being aired. The same applies for shows like "Sex and the City", "Desperate Housewives", "Six Feet Under", among others which have sexual references the likes of which are generally frowned upon in this country. As for Bollywood being politically correct, Hindi movies have been made on everything from lesbianism to nuns having affairs with married men. As such "profanity" refers to the use of word which can be described as lewd or uncivil.
Unlike the others, "Six Feet Under" is not in the mainstream of American entertainment. While the themes followed in the others may be objectionable to some, they very much avoid the use of profanity. The language in "Six Feet Under" is unrestricted.
Remember too that much of European entertainment is not in English, and I don't know the extent to which these films are translated
for audiences in India. Even if they are translated, it is difficult to compete against the American marketting behemoth.Quite a few BBC serials like "Little Britain", "The Office" etc. are aired in India and have done reasonably well even though they got as much (or rather as little) publicity as their American counterparts.
Sorry, I sometimes have the tendency to view Britain as somewhat different from Europe. ;-) I really had continental Europe in mind.
There are some exciting new directors in Indian film like Deepa Mehta and Karan Razdan. There are very few great Indian films despite the fact that India produces more films than any other country.
An amusing sidelight about profanity. The Catholic Church in Quebec has undertaken an advertising campaign to curb the use of profanity there. French Canadian cursing is often done by invoking the names of liturgical objects. These oaths (even when translated) are completely meaningless and ineffectual among English Canadians. There is a great deal of cultural variation in what people consider to be profane.
Ec