Prasad J wrote:
However I can see that any entertainment that
deviates from
the politically correct monotony of Bollywood could be interpreted as
profanity
Not 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